Fathers Sons and Brothers
by thefuzzyone123
Summary: Dadneto fic! Erik aka Magneto discovers he is a father. Set a year on from X-men: first class. Can Erik rescue his son from imprisonment before it's too late? Charles/Erik friendship Mystique/Erik romance Other characters:Quicksilver aka Pietro Maximoff
1. Brothers

_Summary: Set a year on from Cuba. Erik finds out he's a father and that his son Pietro is being held captive by a sinister organisation that kidnaps mutants and experiments on them. _

_Will Erik agree to the mission and save his son from imprisonment before it's too late?_

_This story is an exploration of Magneto's complex and engrossing character; as a fighter, a lover, a friend and a father. _

_Main Characters: Erik aka Magneto, Charles Xavier aka Professor X, Quicksilver aka Pietro Maximoff_

* * *

><p>Erik stared out of the coffee house window over Monaco bay as he waited for Charles Xavier to arrive. It had been a year since his former friend and ally had been wounded on the beach, and although Erik had thought about the other man often, he had not contacted Charles in that time, and until a week ago, Charles had not sought to contact him. Or at least Erik assumed that he hadn't, but then he had made himself deliberately hard to locate...<p>

Bitter sweet memories of their short but intense friendship still haunted Erik, he felt guilty about Charles' paralysis...even though it was that infernal human- Moria- who had pulled the trigger, he knew that ultimately Charles blamed him; not her. It infuriated him further that after everything they had been through together, Charles still clung to his naïve dream that mutants and humans could live together in harmony. Perhaps though -Erik thought to himself-Charles had finally come to his senses...

A few days ago a telegram had been delivered to the apartment that he and Mystique had rented for a few weeks while they conducted business in the city. The comunicae had contained nothing more elaborate than a few words: "I must speak with you urgently on a matter of great importance – Charles Xavier" and the address of the coffee house.

The door of the coffee house opened and Erik looked up as a young man in a wheelchair moved towards his table.

"Erik, it's been a long time" Charles greeted.

Erik was momentarily at a loss. Of course he knew that Charles had been paralysed by his injury, but actually seeing it brought a fresh new wave of regret flooding over him.

"It has."

Erik managed at last, trying not to stare at the wheelchair or Charles' now useless legs. Erik was no stranger to death or mutilation, nor was he squeamish – having his childhood ripped from him by Shaw and Nazis had seen to that- but he'd cared for Charles as a brother, like he was family. Family is different. Desensitization doesn't work the way it does with everyone else. Erik had only allowed himself to consider two other people as his family since his ordeals at the concentration camp. When they'd been torn away, he'd decided he wasn't interested in rebuilding interpersonal connections. He had a knack for losing the things he loved most, and only a fool would court the kind of pain he felt when it happened. Erik looked at Charles ruefully, the telepath may not have died, but in the end Erik had still lost him.

"Charles I'm...I'm sorry..." Erik began

Charles smiled a warm forgiving smile and waved his hand to cut Erik off.

"Erik I'm not holding a grudge. I miss my morning strolls, but you never intended this, it was an accident that could have been much worse, and I know I still have far too privileged a life to mope around feeling sorry for myself" he finished with a lop sided grin.

The statement both annoyed and relieved Erik. He was glad Charles did not hate him for the incident on the beach, but the way he had made light of something so serious made Erik wonder how low a value he placed on his life and well being. Erik sighed...Charles was made for martyrdom, a perspective that Erik would never understand. An awkward silence filled the air.

"So how goes your school?" Erik asked, scraping for something to say. He'd half hoped to surprise the telepath - not an easy task. But Xavier's school for gifted youngsters was supposed to be a secret after all. However if Erik's knowledge of the place did surprise Charles, he showed no sign of it. Instead he smiled and replied:

"Good thank you. Well for the most part. Actually that's one of the reasons I asked you to meet with me here"

"If you're here to ask me to become a teacher Charles-" Charles held up his hand and shook his head to dismiss the assumption.

"If I thought you'd agree, I then I most certainly would. But I don't need to be a mind reader to know your answer. No, I am concerned about the safety of a young mutant who recently left the Xavier institute. Have heard of an organisation known as Omega? "

Erik frowned. Indeed he had heard rumours about an underground organisation that was interested in mutants. The rumours were connected with kidnapping and experimentation.

"I have, but I haven't been able to uncover anything concrete about them. They could even be a myth". Charles shook his head

"I'm afraid not Erik, I've personally met someone who has managed to escape from one of their labs"

Erik's face grew dark, the scenario stirred his own dark memories of monsters masquerading as scientists.

"If this organisation really exists, then it needs to be destroyed." Erik said quietly.

"I know.." Charles replied.

Perhaps there was hope for Charles after all, Eric thought. He had half been expecting some pacifist plan for dealing with Omega, like writing a letter asking them very politely not to experiment on people. "...But we have to make sure nobody gets hurt." Charles continued. Or perhaps not, Erik thought.

"Still trying not to get your hands dirty Charles?" He scowled "Then just tell me where it is and _I'll_ raise it to the ground, and you can keep your conscience clean. "

"What then Erik? You'll go storming in and collapse the place? Or blow it up? " Charles asked shaking his head "Innocent people could get hurt Erik-" When Erik scoffed he continued "-human and mutant. We need to get the people who are being held against their will out safely, and those who are guilty should be turned over to the proper authorities. Not all the scientists are there volutarily-some of them have been coerced, and some are-"

"-just following orders?" Erik finished, his voice a dangerous whisper. "I see time has done nothing to improve your politics...or your common sense." Erik had to concede though, that Charles did have a point about mutants getting caught up in the carnage if they stormed Omega. And Erik knew Charles would never reveal the details of Omega's location if he didn't agree to a non-violent strategy. In addition there was simply no way Erik could allow a threat like Omega to go on existing unchallenged, so he was going to have to at least partially play along with Charles' nonsensical ideals "So I assume you have a plan that allows us all to live happily ever after?"

"We've managed to place someone on the inside as part of Omega's research team, but we need someone to masquerade as a prisoner-"

"And you thought of me? How sweet. Sorry Charles, been there done that. Think of something else. Or better yet, find another guinea pig"

"We need to have a powerful mutant with a high level of control on the inside, and with your magnetic abilities you're best suited to opening holding cells quickly and aiding the evacuation process." Erik raised an eyebrow and regarded Charles with a look of disdain.

"Yet somehow I'm still unconvinced about risking life and limb for group of people I have no personal interest in... I still prefer my idea Charles. Raise it to the ground. If any mutants die, they'll die heroes"

Charles looked aghast. "Erik, in order for death to be heroic, a person has to choose to die for a noble cause that they believe in, not have that choice thrust upon them by others! That's murder!" Erik narrowed his eyes and looked out the window again over the bay. After a while Charles sighed and tried again.

"Erik didn't want to show you this now, because I didn't want you to think I was trying to manipulate you, but..." Charles pulled out a folder and handed it to Erik "Hank and I have been logging DNA profiles of everyone at the Xavier institute so we can learn more about the X-gene"

Erik opened the folder and found his alias Magneto printed on the first page along with a series of squares representing his unique genetic structure. Erik was not a geneticist of Xavier or Hank McCoy's calibre, but he had studied the subject at University. In addition his ordeal at the hands of Shaw, his own expression of the X-gene made it hard to not to develop an in-depth interest in the science.

"Logging and cataloguing individuals...another group of people had an interest in that...But why should this manipulate me?" Erik asked.

"Look at the other document" Charles replied. Erik pulled out the second sheet from the file, the first few lines read:

Name: Pietro Maximoff

Age: 7

Gender: Male

Erik studied Pietro's DNA profile it seemed to reflect an eerily familiar pattern.

The wheels turned slowly in Erik's mind as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. "He's..." Erik began slowly "He's related to me?...No, no-more than that..." He paused frowning more until a mixture of puzzlement and shock came over his face "This child-the boy you took this profile from-" he looked up at Charles startled "- is my son?"


	2. Revelations

Erik had not led a monkish lifestyle by any means, he enjoyed sex. But just because he had a libido didn't mean he was ruled by it. He always took precautions whenever he shared his bed with a woman, precisely because he abhorred the idea of becoming a parent 'by accident'. The Nazi's had taken his father from him a year before they'd captured himself and his mother. He'd seen her struggle to raise him alone in a hostile environment, and he wasn't about to visit the same hardships on an illegitimate progeny of his own simply because of a lack of forethought...

Though there had once been a woman whom Erik loved, and with whom Eric had wanted to start a family. To whom he had been married. But that had been a lifetime ago...another world...another man.

"Magda..."

"Sorry Eric?" Charles asked. Erik realised that he'd spoken the name out loud and interrupted Charles. The young professor had been explaining how he came to find the boy, but Eric hadn't heard a word of it, his mind had been a whirl with long dead memories. Now Charles' question jolted him back to the present. Erik narrowed his eyes and studied the professor. There was a possibility that the telepath had reached into his memories and somehow concocted this whole thing in order to get him to agree to an idiotic humanitarian mission...but somehow Erik knew that didn't fit Charles' style. The man stubbornly played by the rules, and he believed in honour. Stealing people's memories and making up imaginary offspring just wasn't the way Charles operated, his own rigid moral code wouldn't allow for something as machiavellian as that. Charles had once said he didn't read his friends minds' without their permission, and on most days Erik was inclined to believe him, but on others he wasn't.

"Erik?" Charles asked again.

"I said go on" Erik replied as he arranged his face into an unreadable mask.

"Well as I saying, cerebro located him in New York..." Charles began.

Two months prior to Charles and Erik's reunion a ragged boy with snow white hair and a small frame had watched the patrons of the exclusive New York restaurant intently from behind a dumpster. He hadn't eaten anything two days, and his eyes where particularly drawn to one of the outdoor tables, where a man in wheel chair sat, absorbed in a newspaper. A waiter arrived with a plate of freshly baked pastries and placed them down in front of the customer. The boy smiled to himself, the opportunity was too good to pass up.

He moved like a blur out of his hiding place, darting quickly between the tables and snatched a pastry, then darted between two of the restaurants large potted trees and devoured his prize hungrily.

"Would you like another?" Shocked the boy whirled around. The man in the wheel chair was staring directly at him, he had spotted him between the trees, although no one else seemed to be paying the child any attention. The boy's first instinct, was to run, but when he tried to move his feet seemed rooted to the floor.

"Please don't be afraid, I don't mean you any harm Pietro" The man's voice had spoken inside his head.

Pietro focused all his will into moving his legs, he'd always been able to runaway from trouble, but now his body was trapped. He could hear his breath coming in short uneven pants, he was hyper-ventilating, he had to get away, but his body was failing him, it was weak from the lack of food and his legs were beginning to shake, and he still couldn't lift them. To make matters even worse the man was beginning to move towards him with urgency. "Pietro try and relax-" The boy didn't hear rest of the words, weather they were in his head or otherwise, the blackness enveloped him and he his over stressed, undernourished young body fell to the ground.

"Does your usual method of recruiting students generally involve inducing panic attacks?" Erik asked, interrupting Charles' recount.

"I didn't mean to! I feel terrible about that...at the time I thought freezing him would scare him less that manhandling him...I just needed him to stand still long enough for me to explain myself to him...to explain what we are..." Charles rubbed the back of his head and sighed "Terrifying the child was the last thing I ever wanted to do..."

Eric raised an eyebrow quizzically. Charles' wouldn't harm a fly, but he had an odd perspective on some things. At seven the telepath probably would have found someone speaking to directly into his mind fascinating. At Thirty-four Eric still found hearing some else's voice in his head somewhat unsettling...and he was fairly sure that at seven his reaction would have been even less positive...

"We took him back to the Xavier institute to recover. He was a little afraid of us at first, but after we introduced him to the kitchen, he seemed to warm to us quite rapidly" Charles smiled.

Eric took this all in silently, trying to mull over the situation in his mind. Fatherhood didn't fit in with is current lifestyle. Caring for other people, protecting them - that was complicated and something that he'd never been particularly good at. But the idea of having a piece of Magda's spirit back, that was opening a door in his heart that he's thought was closed forever. Part of him still thought that Charles might be wrong, that he'd made some mistake with the DNA profiling. But there were other factors to consider as well now, like the child's name: Pietro. He and Magda had discussed calling their first child that if it were a boy...but that baby had been a girl...Erik sighed in frustration and ran his fingers through his hair, he couldn't make a decision on anything, until after he'd seen the child...

"So the boy is back the Xavier mansion?"

A pained look crossed Charles' face "No...Omega has him..."

Erik's eyes narrowed "How?"

"I don't know exactly..." Charles replied sadly "...he went missing four weeks ago, one of the other children said he snuck out one night...we searched for him in the morning but couldn't find him. I was worried because I couldn't sense him with cerebro either...But two weeks later I received a message from my contact at Omega, she reported that they'd brought in a new mutant, one that fits Pietro's description..."

Erik felt his stomach twist into a cold knot. "Is he...alive?"

"Yes" Charles said quickly sensing Erik's dread "and from what I know relatively unharmed.."

Erik thought about asking what "relatively" actually meant, then decided against it. He'd been a lab rat himself once; he could guess. The priority was getting Pietro out and destroying Omega, the details of the boy's ordeal could wait and would likely just cloud his mind with rage. Occasionally Erik's anger still got the better of him, and he needed to be clear headed if he was going into battle alone and unarmed. A heavy silence hung in the air a while before Erik spoke again.

"I need plans...layouts of Omega's operating base. If I'm walking into hell, I want to know where I'm going" He said with an air of resignation.

Charles looked happily surprised "So you'll do it then? You'll help?"

"Yes." Eric replied.

"Thankyou Eric." Charles said sincerely. He began to back the wheel chair away from the table in preparation to leave he coffee house "I'll arrange two plane tickets back to the sta-" Erik was on his feet and gripping Charles' wrist to stop him from turning the wheel. He leaned in, fixing Charles with one of his intense glares.

"Charles I don't think I've ever known a better man than you...but if I find out that this is some trick to manipulate me for your own ends..."

"-I swear on everything sacred to me Erik, that all I've told you is the truth" The telepath looked genuinely hurt. Erik leaned back and released Charles' hand, but still held his gaze.

"That's good Charles. Because if I find out it isn't, the next time we meet, one of us will die."

"I'll keep that in mind" Charles said without breaking eye contact.

"I'll meet you at the airport in two hours" Erik said as he strode out of the coffee house.


	3. Lovers

From her bedroom, Raven heard the door to the apartment open and slam. A few moments later she heard Erik's footsteps stride into his own room. Apprehensively padding down the corridor towards his bedroom door, she found Erik with a suitcase open on the bed, hurriedly throwing his belongings into it.

"Are we going somewhere?" she asked

"_I'm_ going somewhere." Erik replied without looking up from his packing. "You're staying here."

"Excuse me?" Mystique asked angrily. Erik had always been arrogant and somewhat aloof, but over past couple months his negative traits had been becoming rapidly worse. He no longer seemed to treat her as an equal or a friend. Instead he seemed to look upon her as more of a foot soldier, barking out orders with and not expecting them to be questioned. Prior to the beach, and for a while after, Erik had let down his walls and in doing so had become a catalyst to Raven's acceptance of herself. He had been the first person in her life to find her true form beautiful, the first from whom she didn't feel she had to hide anything. Sure Charles had loved her, and accepted her, but Erik had made her feel _desired_. Or at least he _did_. Lately he had been becoming more and more consumed with his mission to prepare for what he believed was an inevitable war between mutants -or homo-superiors as Erik now called them- and non-mutants. He'd cast himself in the role of general and no longer seemed to have room in his life for the kind of connection they'd once shared.

"I'm not your little tin-soldier Erik! You don't tell me where I can and can't go!" Mystique snapped. "You haven't even told me what happened with Charles!"

"It doesn't concern you. I'm going away for a while, I'll be back in a week or so. In the meantime I need someone here to manage my affairs. And a soldier is exactly what you are. What we'll _all_ have to be when the revolution starts."

Mystique ignored the tail end of Erik's statement. He was becoming disturbingly more like Shaw with each passing day. In the beginning his vision of creating a world where mutants wouldn't have to hide who they were had appealed to her, but now he seemed more obsessed with war. Over the past year they'd been seeking out and recruiting mutants to Erik's cause, he'd nicknamed it the Brotherhood. But Mystique wasn't happy with some of the people they were attracting, or some of Erik's plans. Building a new world, he said, required resources and money. Erik's method for accumulating these, whilst effective, was not entirely ethical, and it certainly wasn't legal.

There was great demand in certain circles for individuals that could operate beyond the range of ordinary humans. The same abilities that ostracised mutants, could also make them the perfect spies, bodyguards, thieves, mercenaries or assassins.

Mystique hadn't seen Charles in a year, and the reason that she had not gone with Erik to meet with her foster brother earlier that day was because she wasn't feeling particularly proud of some of her recent actions. As children Charles had been able to read her emotions even without using his telepathic powers. He just knew her too well. She felt that if they met now she wouldn't know what to say -she wasn't used to keeping secrets from him.

"Is Charles alright? He's not in some kind of trouble is he?" Mystique asked.

"All the man does is look for trouble. He was doing that when we met. Should it surprise you that he keeps finding it?" Erik said irritably but the tone he used was that of a weary parent lamenting the actions of a wayward child. He looked at Mystique and sighed, his demeanour softened slightly "He asked for my help with something, and I agreed to give it. I can't tell you any more. ….I'm sorry."

The sincere "I'm Sorry" caught Mystique off guard. Erik rarely apologized. She swallowed and looked down sadly.

"You don't trust me." She stated.

Erik surprised her more by moving closer and gently lifting her chin till their eyes met.

"Raven, I think you're the only person left in the world I still do trust." Erik said. Raven blinked in astonishment.

"Then why-" The shape shifter began to ask but, Erik cut her off.

"-Emma." Erik explained in one word. "Frost isn't as polite with her gift as Charles. If I tell you there's a chance she might read your mind. I'll explain it all when I get back... I promise."

Mystique drew away slowly and walked over to the window, she felt Erik's eyes following her. He'd always reminded her of a cat, the way he moved, the way he stared at people sometimes...there was always something very predatory about it. Even when she was sure his thoughts weren't particularly malicious, it was like he couldn't turn his hunting instinct off. The way he watched her now brought back memories of six months ago, and made a warmth rise from the base of her spine.

They'd been in Munich, 'resource accumulating'. An arms dealer had paid them to escort his goods across several borders. With their collective skills it had been an easy job for the Brotherhood. Pleased with their work the dealer had the decided to throw them an impromptu party at his mansion, with copious amounts of alcohol and several strippers. Mystique remembered watching Erik slink away into one of the other rooms as the rest of the male Brotherhood members became more and more inebriated. She'd followed him, and found him sitting in the study sipping a glass of rum and ice.

"Not enjoying the entertainment? " she'd asked.

"She doesn't look a day over sixteen." He snorted with an air of disgust. Mystique laughed, she'd been secretly pleased that Erik hadn't been drooling over the blonde modelesque girl like the rest of the males in the group. Erik watched her as she laughed, that same predatory look in his eyes, but it wasn't cold like the look he usually got before something died of metal inflicted injuries...This look was full of heat...and seemed full of... _desire._..

"Sabretooth might like little girls... " Erik said "..but _I..."_ he paused and ran his eyes over Mystique's frame "...prefer women..." He finished quietly while holding Mystique's eyes with his own. She giggled nervously. Had she had too much to drink? Or was Erik actually flirting? With _her_?

With the half bottle of scotch she'd consumed an hour before giving her a courage she didn't usually possess, Raven sauntered over to Erik's chair and stood over him hand on hip, a mixture of a pout and a smirk on her face.

"Oh? What kind of _women_? Blonde?" she changed into an attractive Nordic lady. "Brunette?" She changed into a Latin beauty. Erik watched but said nothing. She leaned in towards him and tried again "No? How about Red Head?" Erik sat up at the last change and leaned in so close their lips almost touched.

"Getting closer..." he whispered. Raven let herself slip into her natural form. Before the change was even complete she felt Erik's lips meet hers. The kiss was everything she'd been fantasizing about and more. When he'd kissed her a year ago, in the Xavier Mansion it had been gentle and almost chaste. This kiss was dark, and rich, and warm with an edge of desperation and danger. It was far, far better than the first. She entangled her hands in his hair and pressed herself against him hungry for more. Her bold reaction surprised him, and he broke their contact first breathing heavily "Raven-"

"-Don't be a tease Erik." She said pushing him back down into the chair as he tried to sit up. In some still sober, non-lust-filled corner of her mind, Raven wondered what the hell gotten in to her. Was she really speaking to Erik like this? Chastising _Magneto_? That corner told her to prepare for a consequence, but Erik was regarding her with an expression she'd never seen on his face before. It seemed a raw primitive cocktail of admiration, astonishment and desire, with a hint of...something else...fear perhaps? To Raven it made him seem even more irresistible, she pulled his head back and kissed him again. She was happily exploring his mouth with her own, when a long high pitched scream split the air. It sounded like some kind of wounded animal caught in trap, but with a distressingly human quality to it. Erik and Raven untangled themselves from each other and rushed out of the study in the direction of the sound.

It had come from the hall where the other members of the brotherhood had been celebrating. On arriving Erik found Sabretooth tearing at the throat of the pretty blonde girl that had been dancing for them earlier, she was still screaming that horrid high pitched unbroken sound. Erik had known the mutant was violent and prone to rages when he recruited him, but he had also thought Sabretooth possessed a better level of control. This unpredictable attack was unacceptable.

Mystique rushed forward to confront the feral mutant. But Sabretooth was faster, he threw the girl to the ground and lashed out with his claws, catching her side and tearing away muscle and flesh in a crimson blur. Mystique fell to the floor in agony, she looked up to find Sabretooth over her, pulling his arm back for another swipe. Her body tensed and her eyes squeezed shut instinctively preparing for the blow, but it never came. Instead she heard an odd gurgling sound. Mystique cautiously opened her eyes and saw Sabretooth with a silver candlestick impaled in his throat. Erik stood behind her now wearing his helmet, his arm out stretched toward the silver instrument, Sabretooth tottered forward seemly intent on killing her despite his own mortal wound. Erik gestured with his hand and the entire candlestick ripped itself through Sabretooth's neck taking most of his throat out with it in bloody chunks. The huge mutant crashed the floor with a loud bloody thud.

Mystique looked at the girl, she'd stopped screaming, or moving. The girl's eyes stared vacantly up at the celling.

Emma Frost walked up to the unmoving stripper and prodded the lifeless arm with a white stilletoed toe "Red suits her." she pronounced. She cocked her head to he side and and examined Raven quizzically "It doesn't go quite so well with blue though...but then what does?" her mocking tone was detached, light and completely inappropriate for the situation. Mystique narrowed her eyes and glared at Emma, she couldn't stand the woman and didn't care weather the telepath knew it or not. She attempted to move towards the girl Sabretooth had attacked, but a fresh pain shot through her side. Frost didn't move an inch to help, but instead stood looking down at Mystique like she observing an experiment.

Their host, a short fat man with a red face suddenly burst into the room and began a hysterical tyraid, shouting and pointing at Magneto. It was all in German, but you didn't have to be multi-lingual to understand that man was furious about the fact that two people had just been slain in his home, and that his emotional state had more do with fear of the authorities than any ethical dilemma.

"Emma, take care of the bodies and wipe his mind. Azazeal bring me the first aid kit." Erik ordered flatly, sweeping forward and scooping Mystique up into his arms.

Emma smiled vacantly. "Of course."

Azazeal de-materialised with a fiery puff of smoke.

Erik stalked out of the hall towards one of the abode's many bedrooms.

"Erik, the girl..." Raven said weakly trying to look back.

"There's nothing you can do for her now." He replied without emotion. Death must be nothing to Erik now, Raven thought. She couldn't imagine ever getting used to seeing bodies.

Erik laid her down on the king size four poster bed of an opulent looking room. He gently examined her side, she winced slightly as touched the claw marks.

"The cuts are deep. You'll need stitches."

"Erik...I can't go to a hospital...I don't think I can use my powers with my body like this.." Raven said worriedly.

"You'd be surprised what you can do with the right motivation..." Erik said without emotion still staring at the cuts. Raven stiffened and felt even more worried, Erik's methods of 'motivating' people weren't always particularly pleasant, especially when his voice became cold and detached like that. He looked at her then, his eyes twinkling slightly with mischief, warmth had returned to them. "...But I wasn't actually suggesting a suicidal trip to a hospital." Raven groaned.

"Do you think you could you possibly refrain from teasing me while I'm bleeding to death?". Erik smirked at this.

"Just trying to provide a distraction from the pain" He said winking a her "And you're not dying...well not today at any rate."

Azazel re-materialised then with the first aid kit. Erik took it and the other mutant disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived. Erik opened the kit and cleaned Raven's wound. When he was done he took out a needle thread. Raven eyed it warily.

"Do you actually know what you're doing?" She asked.

"I've had a lot of practice." Erik replied. Mystique furrowed her nose, still sceptical.

Erik cocked his head to the side and raised and eyebrow condescendingly.

"Would you rather I took you to a hospital?" Mystique didn't reply, Erik handed her a vial of clear liquid "Drink it. It will dull the pain." Mystique did as he ordered, she was too tired to argue anyway. Soon she felt a pleasant drowsiness settling over her. As she drifted off, she felt a few sharp pricks in her side as Erik begun suturing.

Raven awoke the next day with a terrible hangover, and the pain in her side back to full strength. Groggily she sat up and groaned, holding her head in her hands.

"Sleeping beauty finally awakens." I dry male voice said.

Raven whipped her head round too fast and felt lurch of nausea. Erik stood by the window, looking out on to the grounds. Had he been there all night? Or had he just come in? Raven wondered. He looked perfectly dressed and as usual not a hair was out of place, so it a night vigil was unlikely .

"Morning Erik" she muttered massaging her head. There was silence for a few minutes.

"Raven..." Erik started "...last night-"

Oh God. She thought, as the memories came flooding back. Raven wanted to melt into the floor, and was for once grateful that her blue skin hid the blush well. This was unbelievably awkward. Erik was obviously about to make it clear that he found her either too unattractive or immature – or perhaps both- to be of any possible romantic interest to him while he was sober. Mystique decided she'd save them both the embarrassment.

"-God...last night I was so drunk! I got a little crazy, I wasn't thinking straight..."

Erik turned then, a shadow flickered across his face, but it was too brief for Mystique to match an emotion to it. A moment later Erik's had put his walls back in place and his eyes where now cold and unreadable. He gave her a curt nod.

"I need to finish cleaning up last night's mess. Get yourself ready to leave." He said as he walked out of the room. Leaving Mystique to process his mood change, had she said the wrong thing?

Neither of them had brought up what happened in the study since.

Back in the present day Mystique jerked her attention away from her memories. She looked back at Erik who had finished packing.

"If you really don't trust Frost then why do you keep her around? She jumped into bed with that psychopath Shaw and now she's merrily skipping after you. What's to stop her betraying the Brotherhood?"

"Fear...and lack of a better offer" Erik replied "She's a telepath. The Brotherhood needs her skills." He moved to the bed and picked up his suitcase. "I have to go now..."

"Tell Charles..." Mystique began, but she wasn't sure what she wanted Erik to tell Charles...she still cared about her brother a lot, but what message could she send that would convey her feelings in spite of her abandonment "Tell him I asked after him..." she said at last. Erik nodded.

"I'll be in contact when I can". He said as he left the building.

Erik found Charles waiting for him in the airport lobby.

"So where's the party Charles?" Erik enquired.

"Alaska." the other man replied as he handed Erik his plane ticket.


	4. Doubts

"Why not just use _your_ powers to infiltrate Omega Charles? Avoid the collateral damage you're so concerned about?" Erik's breathe formed frosty clouds in the cold subarctic night air. After they'd landed at Point Hope, the pair had boarded a small ferry, and were now bound towards an island that only existed on the most exclusive of maps. The two were alone on deck, staring out into the flat expanse of the Bering sea.

"I've tried...but with little success I'm afraid. I suspect they have some kind of telepathic shield around their facility."

Charles had explained his plan during the journey. He would introduce Erik to his contact in Omega and she would smuggle him into the facility under the pretence that he was a new test subject. Once inside Erik was to help the prisoners escape, and cause only the "necessary minimal damage" to his surroundings to fulfil the mission.

"The people held in that place will undoubtedly be traumatised enough without having to wade through a sea of bodies to claim their freedom. And it will be far easier to convince them to follow you, if you don't appear homicidal. " Charles had cautioned.

Erik thought that that was complete and utter unfounded rubbish. In his opinion the vast majority of people who'd experienced torture would do anything to escape experiencing it again. Seeing retribution visited on your former jailers was an added bonus. However Erik kept these thoughts to himself...he'd make amendments to Charles' plan later...he couldn't do any damage until he was inside the place anyway...

"I hope your contact is trustworthy Charles..."

Charles nodded "I assure you she is my friend."

The ferry dropped the two men on a deserted stretch of rocky beach. As it sailed away, Erik noticed a flash of light in the distance behind some evergreens, like sunlight bouncing off a mirror...

Charles touched his finger tips to his temple "Ah good, Dr Goldberg is already here."

After a moment a figure emerged from the vegetation and made it's way towards the two men. As figure moved closer Erik saw that it was that of an elderly woman in a long grey trench coat. Goldberg had a worn face and her movements looked weary, but her eyes were sharp and intelligent. Erik waited impatiently for Charles to finish the introductions, then spoke:

"So Omega is located somewhere on this island?"

Goldberg shook her head "No. It is never located anywhere for very long" Erik noted she had a slight German accent. A former Nazi doctor with a new set of guinea pigs to play with perhaps? Yes that would fit, he thought to himself in disgust. Had Charles paid her for her cooperation? Or had she made some error that had made her fear the top echelons of the organisation? Maybe Charles was just psychically compelling her? No...he was too moral for that..Erik wanted to ask all these questions, but convinced himself they where irrelevant to the mission and contented himself with an order.

"Explain."

"It moves. Omega's lab is located on board a vessel, if you were to see it, you would easily mistake it for an oil tanker. It's course takes it around the Arctic circle. A mobile prison is ironically easier to keep hidden, especially in such a remote location...and far harder to escape from."

Eric's upper lip curled in distaste, he studied her. "So I hear I am to play your prisoner?"

"Yes" Goldberg nodded "If you are still willing to help. It is my job to fetch supplies from the mainland and transport them back to the ship. I will tell my superiors that I encountered you there. You attacked me with your powers and revealed yourself as a mutant. So in response I subdued you and brought you back to the labs, believing you'd make a valuable test subject"

"They are expected to believe that _you_ subdued _me_" Erik raised a sceptical eyebrow. He was loosing even more faith in this plan. Goldberg was several feet shorter than himself and looked as though she might snap if a strong gust of wind caught her, Charles could probably over power her without even using his telepathic abilities...

"I do carry personal protection Mr Lensherr..." Goldberg pulled a tazer from her pocket. Erik's eye brow lowered, his facial expression moved from 'condescending' to 'predatory'.

"I prefer _Magneto_." Goldberg stepped back slightly-a reaction to the tone he'd used. Erik noted she wasn't easily intimidated, but she wasn't stupid either. Goldberg had the attitude of someone that was weary of life, but not of someone that courted death.

"As you prefer, Mr Magneto. Before we depart, I must give you this..." She pulled a small jar out of her pocket and handed it to Erik. He unscrewed it and tapped the contents out into his hand. Two pills lay in his palm "You should take them now."

"I don't think so." Erik said.

"I really do advise taking them Erik." Charles interjected "On board Omega you will be exposed to a compound that dampens mutant abilities. It is pumped in through the ventilation system, you will not be able to avoid it. The pills Dr Goldberg has provided will counteract the effects."

"You will gain immunity to the dampening compound and regain your natural abilities within several hours." Goldberg added.

"Several hours?" Erik rounded on Charles narrowing his eyes "You neglected to mention this little detail before Charles" he hissed.

"It may well be a lot sooner than that, you are quite powerful and in the peak of health. Your system will likely adapt rapidly." Charles tried his best to be reassuring.

"And just _what_-" Erik spat "-am I expected to do if these parasites attempt to dissect my brain before that time arrives?"

"They will most likely not. New subjects are not taken to the lab until after the twenty four hour observation period has elapsed." Goldberg stated.

"'Most Likely'?" Erik sneered "How reassuring."

Goldberg shrugged again "Nothing in life is certain. Except death."

Erik looked unamused.

"In any event..." Charles interjected hastily "My self , Banshee, Beast and Havoc will be along in a rescue craft before twenty-four hours is up to help with the evacuation. But if you can destroy whatever psychic barrier is blocking me from seeing inside Omega we can arrive quicker. "

"And if I can't?"

Charles sighed, he knew Erik too well. "Then we will wait for you to emerge on deck before we reveal ourselves...and pray that you remember that mass homicide will only hinder our efforts not help them."

Erik smiled. Not the wolfish grin that bared all his teeth, but a tight lipped smile of sadistic anticipation. The expression reminded Charles of the way a cat looked just before it pounced into a bird bath and feathers started flying. "I'm getting old Charles, my memory's not what it used to be...but I'll try and remember..." _perhaps sometime after everyone employed by Omega is dead _thought Erik. He turned to Goldberg "Shall we depart?"

Goldberg nodded "My boat is just beyond these rocks" She started waking in the direction she had emerged from.

"I'll see you soon Charles...I do hope those kids of yours haven't gone soft..." Erik said before following Goldberg.

"Have no fear my friend, they have become depressingly used to hostile situations" Charles replied "and your cooperation on a peaceful resolution would be greatly appreciated!" he called after Erik as the other man departed.

The guards opened the cell door and shoved Erik inside. To her credit, Goldberg had managed to pull off the plan without a hitch. Erik had feigned semi consciousness due to electrocution, and the guards had dragged him the half the length of the ship like a dead weight to the holding cells on the lower deck. Erik let himself land face down as he was thrown to the floor. He didn't move until he heard their footsteps recede back down the corridor.

When Erik was satisfied that he was alone, he righted himself and took in his surroundings. The cell was dark, the only illumination came from a small patch of light which emanated from a two foot wide frosted window above the cell door. Erik couldn't see the walls, or corners of the cell in the gloom, but his senses told him that their structure was mainly composed of metal. The only furniture Erik could make out-if it could indeed be called that- was a bucket sitting in the middle of the floor. As a test he attempted to summon the bucket to him. Erik strained at the metal, it felt like tugging at a limb that was trapped under a boulder, he could feel it, but he couldn't move it, and it was painful to try. Erik stubbornly ignored the pain and pulled with everything he had, a burning pain crept up his spine, rapidly moving into his muscles and finally exploding in his skull. The bucket twitched. Erik let out a gasp and released his hold on the metal, falling to his knees shaking. The effort had cost him greatly but yielded little reward. He had the discomforting feeling that if he'd continued his experiment with using his powers he'd do his body damage. He conceded he was going to have to wait for Goldberg's magic pills to kick in.

Sitting powerless in a dark cell did not bring up positive memories for Erik. True he was not the same helpless child that was taken to the death camps. He was a formidable man now, but one unarmed man was no match for a group of armed guards... He was reliant on Goldberg and Charles being correct in the calculations. Erik hated being dependent on others. It required trust. Erik wasn't good at trusting people.

"I was mad to let Charles talk me into this...I don't even know where to find the boy" Erik sighed, and leant back to rest his head on the cell wall. But instead of the hard wall he was expecting, he came into contact with something softer. Something that bolted from behind him as soon as he brushed against it. A white blur moved past him. Erik recovered quickly from his surprise, sticking his foot out just time trip his cell mate. The heard a cry of pain as his opponent hit the floor. Erik moved on instinct, pinning the other body to ground, then suddenly froze as the narrow shaft of light illuminated his captive's face. He was holding a white haired child, with his father's eyes and Magda's nose. A stubborn mixture of defiance and fear were painted on the child's face.


	5. Sons

_Hi and massive hugs to everyone that's reading this story! Your reviews are definitely encouraging me to keep writing. _

_What will happen after Omega? Well that kind depends on Eric ;) My take on him is that he's at war with himself on weather he wants to be part of a family, or weather he wants to be the commander of an army. He's also something of a control freak. Which doesn't really help him form relationships with other people. In the movie Magneto describes his ideal society as a place where mutants are like "brothers and sisters-protecting each other"...So I think, in his heart of hearts, a family is what he wants, but he doesn't believe the world will ever allow him to enjoy it in peace. So hence the next most logical life path to him is military dictator so he can "protect" everybody. This story is about the fork in the road, and choices he needs to make. If he chooses family he'll gravitate back towards Charles, if he chooses military leader he'll place Pietro in a boarding school or with some suitable adoptive parents and continue down the road to world domination. _

_A quick note on Erik and Magda's relationship history: I liked a lot of things about her back story so I've done my best to blend XMFC movie cannon with comic-canon...though it has been extremely haaaard! In the Uncanny X-men comics Erik around 15-14 when he enters Ausvich and 16-17 when he escapes. In the XMF I would place him around 13 at the most when he enters the death camp and I assume he would have been there just under a year, so he'd be 14 when escaped. _

_x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_

Erik stared at the boy. This was undeniably his son. Charles had been telling the truth. Erik felt his chest tighten-the boy looked so much like his mother. His grip loosened. Pietro had lived on the streets too long not to take full advantage of Eric's lack of focus and squirmed away. As he moved backwards the boy kicked out, his foot caught Eric square in the face. Pietro was seven. Eric was a seasoned fighter. As a result the kick didn't hurt much but it did surprise and distract the older man long enough to prevent him from dodging when Pietro hurled the metal bucket at him.

"Hey-!" Eric shouted, wiping blood away from his cracked lip. Pietro grabbed the fallen bucket and swung it again. Clearly intent on knocking his older cell mate unconscious.

"-Enough!" Eric caught the bucket mid swing and snatched it away from the child. Disarmed, Pietro quickly jumped out of Eric's reach, backing away from him towards the opposite dark corner of the cell. An annoyed Eric quickly closed the distance between them by grabbing the boy's wrist. Eric wanted Pietro where he could see him, he'd thought the bucket was the only thing in the room that the boy could throw at him, but he'd thought he'd been alone in the cell too* and he didn't want to discover he'd made another error when another makeshift missile collided with his head.

"Let go! F****** a******! LET GO!" Pietro shouted at the top of his lungs, pulling and jerking at his trapped wrist while punching and scratching Eric's hand with his free one. Undeterred Eric kept his vice like grip and hoisted the boy's arm far above his head so he dangled off the floor. Pietro began kicking again, continuing his colourful string of profanity at full volume. Eric held him at arms length, so despite Pietro's best efforts, the kicks met thin air. Eric noted that the boy wasn't just swearing in English, he was switching between unmentionable Russian and Romani too. The master of magnetism wouldn't have described himself as traditionally moral by any stretch of the imagination, but he did believe in good old fashioned manners. As violent and brutal as his past had been, bad language still offended him, it was one of his odd pet peeves. He gave Pietro a hard shake to get his attention.

"Calm down!" Eric snapped. Pietro's only response was to redouble his kicking efforts and get louder. Eric could feel his patience slipping "Listen boy-" Eric stopped mid sentence, he could feel the vibration of footsteps in the distance, steel toed boots on the corridor's metal floor. A guard was coming. He didn't need any extra complications. In one smooth movement Eric pulled Pietro's body against his own, trapping the boys arms against his chest with one of his biceps; he covered Pietro's over active mouth with his free hand. The boy strained against him and continued to make muffled sounds.

"Un paznic se apropie, aţi face mai degrabă cu el sau cu mine? **" Eric whispered in Pietro's ear, switching to Romani, since though Pietro clearly understood English, requests made in the language had had no effect on his behaviour so far, Eric hoped Magda's tongue might trigger a different response. Pietro stilled, Eric relaxed a little but didn't loosen his hold.

The footsteps passed and continued down the corridor. Their common enemy no longer threat, Pietro resumed his battle by sinking his teeth into the hand covering his mouth. Eric growled in pain, but didn't pull his hand away, Pietro was biting down with such force that if he'd tried the boy would likely take chunk of flesh out of him. Eric's patience was used up, he dug his fingers into the boy's jaw.

"Take your little teeth out of my skin or I'll dislocate your jaw." Pietro had heard that chilling, precise tone before on adults, not the safe ones like teachers, policemen or the staff at the orphanage, but the dangerous ones. The ones that you hid from on the streets. The ones that didn't have rules. It was survival instinct that made him obey Eric now. It was the same instinct that told you not to poke a tiger with a stick. Pietro inhaled sharply and retracted his bite.

"I'm going to put you down now, and you're going to behave yourself. Do we understand each other?" Eric continued in the same tone.

Pietro nodded quickly. Eric put him down and Pietro promptly backed away from the older man.

"Don't go any further." Eric ordered before the boy could move out of the light completely. Pietro swallowed but stopped. He watched Eric warily and kept glancing back to the wall behind him, he obviously wanted to put as much space between himself and the other man as possible. Eric sighed and inspected the damage to his hand. Nothing in his life ever seemed to go the way he planned it. They'd just met and his son was already repulsed by his presence. Perfect.

Pietro watched Eric with huge eyes. In the light Eric could see the boy was thin,_ too_ thin. There were shadows under his eyes and needle marks scaring both his arms. He didn't look so mutinous now, the defiance was slipping from his face as the adrenaline in his system faded. He looked pale, tired and afraid. Like a rabbit trapped by a wolf and tired of running.

The child shivered and wrapped his arms around himself for warmth. Eric hadn't taken much notice of temperature in the cell. The guards had searched but not dis-robed him. He was still wearing his thick winter coat and turtle neck, and hadn't been bothered by the chill. Pietro was only wearing a thin ripped t-shirt and a pair of baggy most likely second hand jeans, meant for someone with more meat on their body. Being underweight, the boy must be freezing Eric thought. He took off his coat and held it out to Pietro.

"Put this on." Eric said. Pietro hesitated, unsure. He wanted the coat, but he didn't want to get too close to Eric. Eric moved forward to give it to him, Pietro moved back, afraid and wanting to maintain the distance. Eric sighed and stopped, he didn't want the boy to fly into a another panic "I don't mean you any harm. " He tossed the coat in Pietro's direction. It landed on the floor. Eric retreated to his side of the cell, and sat down slowly in the hopes of appearing less threatening. Pietro moved forward and snatched the coat off the ground, hurriedly putting it on. It dwarfed him, but the colour on his face seemed to improve immediately. Warmer, he still watched Eric, but more with curiosity now than fear.

"H-How do you know Romani?... " His brow furrowed in confusion "You're a Gadjo****... aren't you?" Pietro asked.

"My wife taught me. Her people were Romani, I travelled with them for several years when I was much younger."

"T-They caught her too?"

Eric didn't need to ask who 'they' were. "No... She died several years ago."

"Oh." Pietro said quietly."... Sorry..." It wasn't a conditioned response of social politeness, it was the voice of someone who had felt grief and understood it. "How did she die?"

"I don't know exactly..." Eric said softly "She left me some years before I learned of her death"

There was silence for a while. The stillness seemed to make Pietro uncomfortable, he shifted from one leg to another nervously. Eric tried to think of something to say.

"Why did she leave?" Pietro suddenly blurted out. Then his hand flew to his mouth, horrified. He expected Eric to get angry "Sorry, I-I say stuff sometimes before I think about it- "

Eric sighed, this wasn't a memory he was keen to discuss, and ordinarily he wouldn't have indulged someone's idle curiosity. But this wasn't an ordinary situation "It's fine...It's just a long story..."

Eric wasn't overly keen to sit in silence in the dark, nor was he yet sure how to explain himself to his son, so he began talking.

"I first met my wife when we were school children... My family and I lived in _Nuremberg, a town in Germany_. She and her mother came to my school every day to tend the grounds." A smile touched his lips at the memory "At nine I thought her the most beautiful person I'd ever laid eyes on..." Magda had made the draconian school and constant bullying he received as the only Jewish boy there bearable. As outsiders they'd been instantly drawn to each other and formed a firm friendship. "But soon after I met her, my family and I were forced to flee from Germany to Poland...I thought I would never see her again." Eric paused frowning.

"What happened then? " Pietro asked.

"Do you know about the second great war? About what Hitler did to Jews, Gypsies and many others during that time?"

Pietro nodded solemnly "My mother told me stories...they sent her and my grandparents to a camp when she was little...she used to say that she didn't believe in the devil until she was sent there... "

Eric's jaw clenched as he glared into the darkness "The men there were far worse than the devil..." He subconsciously thumbed the numbers on his wrist. Eric had been fourteen and at the concentration camp with Shaw for several months before he made a discovery that both thrilled and terrified him-Madga was there too.

Shaw didn't live at the camp he came and went. Sometimes his absences were long, sometimes they where short. Nor Shaw didn't just believe in physical torture, he liked to diversify, and just because he couldn't be there to administer cruelty in person didn't mean Eric was to be left in peace. The Nazi's had provided lots of opportunities for the scientist to express his sadism. Shaw had made Eric a Sonderkommando. After the first month Eric wished the man had just put a bullet in his brain. During his waking hours he'd be forced to pull the bodies of men, women and children out of the gas chambers, search their teeth for gold then toss them into the incinerators which never seemed to stop burning. In his short time there, he'd seen people shot, beaten and starved to death. He'd seen his fellow workers crushed under piles of rotting bodies. When he closed his eyes to sleep he saw it all again in his dreams. He'd seen spring turn to autumn in the horrible place, and he'd decided he'd seen enough. The worse part was Eric didn't feel repulsed by it any more. He didn't feel anything full stop.

Numbness that had replaced his anger, making his powers harder to summon. Shaw seemed to be loosing interest in his emotionless plaything. Sometimes when he was being beaten Eric could summon something of his gift, but it was a pale shadow of what had occurred when his mother was killed. Amidst the grief and trauma his emotions seemed to have shut down, some sort of survival mechanism perhaps... Finally Shaw had announced he was disappointed in Eric, and hadn't been seen for weeks. Eric was working up the courage to kill himself before Shaw got back. He had a plan, he was going to bash a guard's head to a pulp with a shovel, they'd shoot him of course, but for once there'd be one less Nazi as well as one less victim. The thought of dying brought him an odd kind of peace.

"On the day I decided my life was over, I saw a pretty girl through the barb-wire fence that separated the Jewish and gypsy camp. I recognised her instantly." Magda was still beautiful despite the gauntness and close cropped hair... A slight smile appeared on his lips as spoke

"Seeing her, knowing that she was alive renewed my spirit and made me to determined to live... and to escape the hellish prison." Eric said fiercely. The thought of Shaw finding out about his feelings for Magda and torturing her to get an emotional rise out of him had terrified Eric. Thoughts of escape began consume him, filling him with purpose.

"In October 1944 we planned a revolt and blew up two of the camp's crematoriums, a group of us took advantage of the confusion and escaped. We eventually made our way to Russia where we came across a gypsy caravan who took us in. Some years later we married ." Eric been careful not mention Magda's name to Pietro. For some reason he couldn't clearly identify, he didn't want the boy to find out about their connection just yet, he currently felt ill equipped to deal with the inevitable emotional fallout. Eric glanced at Pietro, the boy was listening attentively, waiting for the story to go on.

"We had a daughter..." Eric smiled, it was a rare smile for him, for a moment his features softened.

"What was her name?" Pietro chirruped.

"We called her Anya." Eric replied without thinking, then mentally cursed himself.

"That's a pretty name, my grandmother was called Anya..."

"Yes it is." Eric continued quickly, he didn't want Pietro connecting dots. Magda had of course named their first daughter after her maternal grandmother "I wanted to improve my family's future, so I studied hard and won a University place. We didn't have much money, so I still had to work while I attended classes. I found a job on a building site, the pay was poor and the manager was corrupt, but with a family to support I didn't have the luxury of being fussy. A while after I'd been working diligently for him, the man tried to cheat me out my wages, I lost my temper...and used my powers and to throw a crowbar at him...It was a mistake and no one was hurt, but the other men saw..." The way they looked at him had instantly changed, their eyes had filled with fear and distrust "I could feel their tiny superstitious minds turning against me..." Eric spat with venom.

"I took a longer walk home than usual, I wanted my anger to evaporate before I went home to my wife and child. My time with them was precious, I didn't want to mar it by being in a bad mood...it was another mistake...I should have hurried to them.." Eric's face looked haunted "When I arrived back at our home, I discovered that the building was on fire and a crowd of people had gathered around it...not helping..just watching while my home and family burned. Two men in uniforms were among them but I barely registered their presence as I rushed to rescue my wife from the flames...

Once I got her to safety, I tried to return for my daughter but the men in uniform stopped me..." They had been KGB agents sent by the manager of the building site to investigate his strange abilities. "They tried to drag me away...they told me no one wanted me or my family there...Anya was trapped four stories up...I could hear her screaming as the fire burned her...I begged them to let me go...the pain must havebeen so awful...in the end it overcame her... she jumped out of the window just to get away from the fire. She fell to her death right in front of me. I tried to go her... I wanted to cradle her in my arms...hold her like like I had when she was first born...Tell her I was sorry...But the men-" Eric voice filled with venom again "-they wouldn't let me. They were incapable of granting even this small mercy... "

The anger Eric had felt in that moment, had been more powerful even than the emotion that Shaw had provoked when psychopath had killed his mother. On some subconscious level, nature prepares you to loose a parent, but there was nothing that prepared Eric for the raw torment of loosing a his child. "...I killed them all..." He'd slain close to fifty people in his rage; impaled them with metal, hung them with wires, crushed them with steel ripped from the buildings surrounding him. The narrow minded biogots had attacked him. Stopped him from rescuing his daughter, and the simpletons with their primitive superstitions had just stood and watched. She'd burnt because of their intolerance and that was unforgivable, they deserved to die. Most of their deaths had been quicker than Anya's. When he'd exhausted himself with the destruction, Eric had collapsed at Magda's feet reaching for her. Instead of coming to him, she'd recoiled.

"_...What-What ARE you?"_

"_Magda...I "Magda backed further away as Eric tried to stand "Don't be afraid, PLEASE! In the concentration camp-Schimidt-he did something to me-"_

_A look of horror had spread across Magda's face "-He made you into a demon!" She whispered. "...Just like them!"_

"_What? Magda no! He did something, but I think this power...it's always been mine...I think he..just AWAKENED it, when I get angry, metal around me moves..."_

"_No." Magda was strangely calm now. It seemed she'd suddenly come to a resolution. "You sold your soul, and got this in exchange...I saw things in the camp, my mother told me I must have been dreaming but now I know wasn't. I saw Herr Schimidt talking to the devil. Schimidt had powers too...I saw him kill a guard with magic..."_

"_Magda, what are you talking about-?"_

"_I never told you what I saw...I feared you'd think me mad. " Tears began to fall from her eyes "I'm sorry Eric. I have to protect MY soul. I have to protect.." Magda's hand went to her stomach as she trailed off. She looked at him like he was a stranger "Goodbye Eric." Magda turned and fled. After the overuse of his powers Eric had been too weak to follow her._

Eric had never recounted the full details of his failed marriage to anyone; he had buried the memories surrounding her departure deep within his psyche to preserve his sanity. But now that he re-examined them, Magda's words finally made sense. Magda had become stronger in her faith after they'd escaped, while Eric had drifted towards a kind of agnosticism. He hadn't known about the existence of Azazeal until recently. Nor had he known Shaw was a mutant until last year. To a young girl raised in a highly religious Roman Catholic environment the logical conclusion was to equate the red teleporter with Satan, and Shaw's mutant powers with some kind of witchcraft.

"She was scared. That's why she ran away." Pietro summarised for Eric as his cellmate had stopped speaking again.

Eric Nodded.

"Sometimes people get scared of things that different...but then they get used to them..." Pietro's said optimistically " Did she come back?" he asked, hopeful. The boy wanted a happy ending, something to lift his spirits perhaps. Eric could provide no such comfort with this tale and shook his head sadly.

"Oh..." Pietro said quietly

"I searched for years. I thought if I could just_ talk_ to her. _Explain_." Nearly _five_ years to be precise. Then by chance he had picked up a French magazine. In it there had been article detailing an explorer's trek through the Ukraine. The man had hurt his leg and been cared for by the nuns at a nearby convent. There was a photograph on the page of several nuns standing outside a medieval abbey. Eric had torn across several countries once he'd uncovered it's location, but instead of the serenity the photograph had depicted, he'd uncovered a scene of destruction. The abbey had been torn to the ground and what remained of the walls were riddled with bullets.

"Then I found out she was dead." Eric learned the Soviet army had pulled down the abbey and confiscated it's land and wealth, under their "elimination of religion" policy. Some of the nuns had refused to leave the building when the demolition took place and been crushed inside. Some local farmers had tried to help; they'd been shot for their trouble. Eric had inspected the ruins and found the graveyard was the only thing that had been left undisturbed, he been holding on to the hope that Madga had wasn't one of the unfortunates...that she was alive. Then he'd spotted the grave. "Magda Lehnsherr. Beloved mother and sister." There was no way of knowing exactly how she died. Or even if she'd passed on before the destruction of the convent. But Eric had felt all the warmth and hope bleed out of him in that moment. Happiness seemed like a distant alien emotion and something that he'd never feel ever again. At first he went into a kind of shock, the old numbness had returned to him. Then the rage came, with it he regained purpose. How was it right that the Nazis and the soldiers that had presumably killed his wife were alive and his entire family was dead? Those parasites were safe and happy, surrounded by their loved ones; while he and countless others were alone and suffering? It wasn't. The world had robbed him of two families and he would pay it back tenfold.

That night, Eric made a list of all the people who should be dead and set out to readdress the cosmic balance.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_FOOTNOTES:_

_For Magda's back story, I've taken some inspiration from the comics (e.g. Magneto:Testament-which I highly recommend ) and some from my own head. I always thought the high evolutionary thing with the cow midwife was just plain dumb in the comics. It didn't add anything to Pietro and Wanda's story so it's gone from mine. Besides the movie kinda of shredded the comic-canon anyway , so I feel entitled to some artistic license here;) The facts remain more or less the same Magda's still dead and Erik still has major intimacy issues because the way she left him._ _In my story though she dies when the twins are a little bit older. The Sinti Romani gypsies where Roman Catholics and religion played a big part in their daily lives. It makes more sense for Magda to reject Eric based on the grounds that she thinks he's some kind devil worshipper rather than solely on the fact he's a mutant._

_*There has been reference in the comic to Magneto being able to manipulate the iron in people's bloodstream. I reckon this might give a him a kind sixth sense when it comes to recognising another presence in a room with him...but only when their iron count is normal...which (due to being underweight) Pietro's is not. But I think having sixth sense scrambled would be a bit disorientating for Mags, so hence why he is unsure of himself in this paragraph_

_***A guard is coming, would you prefer to deal with them or me?_

_****A non-Romani or an outsider_


	6. Twins?

_Hi guys, thanks again for the reviews! Bit of a longer time-laspe between updates than I anticipated. I'm finding Pietro's past quiet difficult to write, so I've broken chapter 6 into two_

Silence had descended on the gloomy dank cell again. Eric felt drained from reliving the memory. Pietro sat quietly a few feet away from him, unsure weather or not to speak. He sensed Eric's melancholic mood and didn't want to disturb him. Instead the boy began to fiddle with a button on Eric's coat.

Eventually the quiet was broken by sounds of movement in the corridor outside. Pietro jumped up fearfully and moved as far away from the door as possible. Eric stood in one fluid movement, like a big cat ready to attack.

More noise came from the corridor, then sounds akin to the undoing of bolts and locks. A bottom hatch in the door opened and two trays of food were slid in.

Pietro let out the breathe he'd been holding, and grinned in relief. Eric however still stood rigid and suspicious, watching the door, his body still poised for a fight. Pietro gently tugged on Eric's sleeve, the small gesture had a bigger effect on Eric than a hundred guards ever could have. Anya used to do the same thing whenever she'd wanted to get her father's attention. The emotion it trigged was so strong that the aggression vanished from him. He immediately looked down at the boy.

"It's ok..." Pietro said hastily, a little nervous under Erik's somewhat intense eye contact with him "it's just meal time...that means they're leaving us alone for a bit..." Pietro let go of the sleeve quickly and resumed his formerly greater distance from Eric. He didn't think the man would hurt him without a reason, but you should never get too close to a tiger...safer to stay just out of reach. The boy bent down and grabbed a tray.

Eric picked up one of the food trays and prodded at the contents; it was a fairly unappetizing combination of stale bread and a meaty block of something Eric couldn't quite identify, but it reminded him of dog food.

"Can I have it if you're not hungry?" Pietro asked with a through a mouth full of bread. He'd already cleared his own tray. The thought of his son eating the atrocious food revolted Eric, but he wasn't naïve to effect that starvation had on people. There had been many times in his own youth that he would have killed for less. Hunger and pain often burned away reason and pride. He resolved to spoil the boy rotten with whatever food he liked when they finally escaped, but for now he could only offer what he was holding.

"If you like." Eric gave the tray to Pietro, who brightened immediately and started cramming the other piece bread into his mouth.

"Thanff youf ...?...ummfff?WhafISfyounamff?" Pietro asked with a mouth full of food.

Eric bent down to Pietro's level an amused smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "A gentleman should never speak with his mouth full." Eric admonished."It's bad manners. In addition, no one can understand a word you're saying."

"Sorry." Pietro swallowed the bread "I said: what's your name?"

"It's..." Eric paused as he discovered he wasn't sure how to introduce himself to Pietro. There was something uncomfortable with "_Magneto", _it felt too far formal for his son, it was the name for a commander, a revolutionary and a warrior...but not a father. _Papa_-as Anya had called him- was completely out of the question for now...maybe forever...but he pushed that train of thought away for the moment. He realised Pietro was giving him an odd look.

"What's wrong?" Pietro interrupted with his nose wrinkled in confusion "Don't you know your own name?"

"Of course." Eric replied, a slightly terse quality to his voice, for seven the boy was a tad too impudent, but he would it slide for now "...the problem is I have several. Two I chose. One my parents gave me. I'm trying to decide the most appropriate one to give you..." Pietro considered the problem, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well... how about the one you like best? That's what your friends call you right?"

Pietro had again unwittingly formulated another rather complex question for Erik to answer, firstly amongst his many acquaintances, he only counted two people as friends, and perhaps even that was pushing the definition. Raven and Charles both called him Erik. Though he liked Magneto best, it suited a different role, one that he wasn't keen on assuming with Pietro, at least not quite yet. His parents had given him the name Max, but he hadn't used it in so long that it felt alien to him now.

"Not always...but how about you call me Erik for now?"

The boy stuck his hand out to shake "I'm Pietro. Pietro Maximoff" Erik thought the child seemed a little more comfortable with having him in closer proximity since he'd donated his meal.

Erik took Pietro's hand and shook it with a nod.

"Maximoff is an interesting name" Eric said. Although what he actually meant was that he was interested in where his son acquired it. It wasn't Magda's, not in life nor in death – the name he had seen on grave was Magda Lensherr. Lensherr had been Magda's maiden name, he had adopted it in order to fit in better with the Romani community they were travelling with when they where married. His own parents had changed their surname several times whist fleeing from the Nazis, and so he felt no great attachment to "Eisenhardt" his own last name.

"It is? It's not really mine..."

"No? Who's is it then?"

"It's..." Pietro paused as though he was solving a difficult maths problem "...It's kinda complexcated.."

"_Complicated_." Eric corrected, he smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring fashion, it was the benign charming smile he had used when introducing himself to the Nazis he'd killed in south America shortly before he met Charles. As sad as it was, that was the best reference his mind could presently source for appearing non threatening. Eric felt woefully out of practice at parenting, but he desperately wanted his son to trust him enough to reveal history. "I like complicated stories.." he said gently "I'd very much like to hear yours"

"Well...people usually get their last name from their father...but I don't have a father...I mean I _do_...'cause everyone does...but I never met him...My mamma said she couldn't stay with mine because he was dangerous..." Pietro explained.

"I see." Eric said, his face unreadable "Did she say why he was dangerous?"

Pietro scratched his head "No...all she said was that he wasn't a _bad person, _but he turned his back on God and _did_ something really really bad. Something that he could never fix...and she couldn't stay with him any more because God wouldn't be pleased with her..." Pietro looked at his feet "We used to try not ask too many questions about our father, because it made mamma sad.. "

Eric swallowed. It saddened him that Magda thought he was dangerous, but it was a point he found hard to argue with. Maybe she had been right to leave, even if it was for incorrect reasons. It was the unveiling of his powers that led to the death of their daughter after all. The KGB had continued to hound him for another year after the fire, pursuing him across the Soviet Union, eventually he had shaken them off in western Europe, but he was fairly certain they still had an open file on him, especially after all of the Brotherhood's recent shenanigans. At least Magda hadn't portrayed him as a complete monster to his son. Something occurred to Erik then, Pietro had used the pural _we_, in his sentence not the singular _I_.

"You have other brothers and sisters?" Eric asked unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"I have a twin sister. Her name is Wanda."

"Really?" Eric smiled so widely he almost laughed.

"Yeah..." Pietro looked at him suspiciously "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, forgive my interruption." Erik said quickly composing himself, and regaining his stoical look "Please continue"

"Where was I? Oh yeah...My mamma became a nun after she left our father. She used to say that as a bride of God she didn't need a last name, and we didn't need one either...and we should think of God as our true father. "

Eric tried his best to hide an involuntary scowl. He didn't have anything against religion, but he couldn't help with feeling irked at the terminology Magda had used. She'd obviously confessed her last name to someone in the convent though, because it had been engraved on her tombstone. Or perhaps they'd just found it on her personal papers after she'd died...

"You and your sister, both grew up in a convent?" Eric asked

"Yeah, when I was born Sister Alisa - the mother superior, said that boys weren't normally allowed there, but since I was only little and she really liked our mamma she made an exception. But when I turned four she told mama that she'd have to find a farmer family close by to foster me.

Django and Marya Maximoff lived three miles away from mamma's convent and they couldn't have any children, so I went to live with them. Django was a Romani who'd settled in the village when he married Marya, so he was happy when he learned we were Romani as well. I had to work really hard on the farm, but they were nice people and I still got to visit mamma and Wanda when we went to church."

Erik was glad to learn that the earlier part of his children's lives had been happy and relatively peaceful, but from the fragments of knowledge he'd gained about Magda's fate, he already knew that, like his own tale, his son's would have a tragic ending.

"But you don't live with the Maximoffs anymore?"

Pietro's lower lip trembled and he looked at the floor. "No..."

"What happened?" Erik asked gently.


	7. Loss

_Points for anyone who recognises who Comrade Rossovich is :) _

_Mirror Darkwind: Thanks so much for all the reviews. As long as I know people are still interested in this story I'll keep writing it. _

"One day Mamma came to visit us at the farm. I was at the house doing chores; Djanjo was in the field and Mayra had gone into town. Mamma had brought Wanda with her, at first I was really excited that they'd come to visit me...but then I saw that Wanda had been crying.

Mamma said that the government were sending soldiers to destroy God's house and it was her destiny to stop them. She said that Wanda was going to stay at the farm with me for awhile, and no matter happened tomorrow, I had to promise to take care of my sister and be a good son to Djanjo...Then she kissed us both and left... At the time, I didn't really understand why she made me promise that...When she left, Wanda started crying again and wouldn't talk to me. When Djanjo returned home from working in the field, I told him what had Mamma had said. He said a couple of bad words, then left for Mamma's church with his gun.

I wanted to go with him, but he said me and Wanda had to stay at home and wait for Mayra. Later, at night we heard heard shots in the distance ..."

Erik could guess what the shots had been.

"Django didn't return home until the next morning...he was limping and blood was dripping down his leg..."

As Eric listened the cold feeling began creeping it's way through his stomach again. It was odd how he could still feel horror even though he already knew his wife's fate. What was it that attracted him to martyrs?

Pietro swallowed hard

"He told us that the soldiers had killed our mother. I didn't believe him...I ran out of the house...even though I could hear everyone yelling after me...I ran all the way to Mamma's church...

But it when I got there it wasn't a church any more...it was just a pile of rocks...the soldiers were still there, but I didn't care. I rushed around yelling and looking for her..one of the soldiers grabbed me and started yelling"

"_You're tresspassing boy, this place is off limits to proletariat-it's now property of the state!" The soldier had barked while giving Pietro a rough shove away from the demolished abbey._

"_My mother lives here! You're the ones who are trespassing!" Pietro shot back._

"_Nobody lives in there. Not now anyway...piss off brat!" The soldier replied. Something drew Pietro's eyes away from the solider to around fifteen metres beyond them._

"I saw another soldier who had more medals pinned to his chest than anyone else. "

_The commander was leaning against a truck holding a small wooden chest. Pietro's temper flared._

"He'd taken Mamma's jewellery box"

_The commander opened the box and rifled through it's contents. Apart from a silver chain, the box held nothing of value. The commander pocketed the piece of jewellery and then noticed some identity documents lying at the bottom. He picked one out and studied it. _

"_Magda Lensherr..." he read "Lensherr where have I heard that name before..." He mused to himself, rolling the name around his tongue. Then he remembered, there had been reports of a man named Lensherr, who was wanted in connection with several unexplained deaths in Vinnytsia._

"_THAT'S MY MOTHER'S!" Pietro yelled, slipping past the first soldier and rushing towards the commander. The boy collided with the other man and beat his fists against him in a rage "YOU STOLE IT! GIVE IT BACK!" The commander gave Pietro a swift hard kick in the stomach with his steel toed boot and the boy's body crumpled to the ground winded. Tears stung at Pietro's eyes._

"_Sorry Comrade Rossovich! The brat moved so fast-" The first solider apologised as he came running up to them._

"_Quite alright Comrade" Rossovich answered coldly bending down next to Pietro, who was still lying on the floor in agony. "The boy just wants to see his mother...well..." Rossovich reached down and grabbed a fistful of white hair, and using his hold to haul Pietro painfully to his feet. "..it just so happens, I'd like to see her too.."_

_Rossovich pulled Pietro to the graveyard by his hair. There were several bodies piled on the grass. Pietro didn't want to look, but Rossovich jerked the boy's head upwards. _

"_So, which one of the stubborn bitches is she? Hmmm boy?" _

_Pietro recognised her at once. Though the crushed dead broken thing in front of him barely resembled his beautiful mother, his eyes managed to differentiate her from the pile immediately. _

"_Mamma..."_

"_So this is the one...Comrade, put that body in the truck." Rossovich barked at the other soldier "We are taking it to Moscow, I believe the Kremlin will be very interested in dissecting her. The boy is coming with us too, the ESP program will be thrilled to have another live test subject...I sense a promotion for us both! "_

"_Yes Comrade!" The soldier saluted enthusiastically, then hurried off to get the truck._

_Pietro didn't understand all the words that had been used, but didn't like the tone of the commander. Rossovich had talked about him and his mother the way people usually talked about livestock, and besides he couldn't let himself be taken to Moscow-he had to stay here and look after Wanda, he'd promised..._

_The commander's pistol sat in it's holster. _

"I grabbed his gun. Shut my eyes and fired...The bullet hit him in the foot."

_Rossovich had rolled on the ground clutching his wounded appendage, then turned to Pietro his face a mask of murderous rage. "You little piece of filth! I'm going make you wish you died like your mother!" _

_Pietro had staggered backwards, the reality and impending consequences of his actions shocking him._

"The other soldiers heard the shot and started rushing towards us. I-I didn't know what to do...so I pointed the gun at them and fired again...I didn't look...I just fired until the gun was empty...then I threw it away and ran as fast I could.

I ran into the woods behind the abbey and hid there until the sun went down. I heard the soldiers searching, but they didn't know the woods like I did...and after a while they gave up. I thought they'd left our village...so I walked back to the farm hoping Djanjo wouldn't be too angry at me..."

_By the time Pietro had reached the farm house the sky was inky black and the night was filled with the sounds of nocturnal creatures. Physically and emotionally exhausted, the boy quietly pushed open the wooden door on the small rustic dwelling. Hopefully the rest of his family would be asleep and that would give him until morning to think of an explanation that would pacify Djanjo and Mayra._

"It was dark in the main room...but I didn't really need any light to make it to my bed. I took off my boots and crossed the floor...then I trod in something wet and sticky...and I heard him..." Pietro paled and looked like he was going to vomit.

"H-He'd killed Djanjo...he wanted to kill us all!"

"_Hello Pietro, it's very late for a little boy to be out all by himself." Rossovich's voice came out of the darkness, as an oil lamp flared to life illuminating a grisly scene before him. Djanjo was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, his eyes gazing lifelessly up at the celling. In far corner of the room, Rossovich sat in his foster father's rocking chair holding a pistol to the back of Mayra's head, who was kneeling in front of him along with Wanda._

"_But I think I won our little game of hide and seek, no? " Rossovich smiled. It was chilling. "I have another game I like to play. Shall I tell you the rules?" _

_Pietro didn't answer. He'd been too scared to say anything. Too scared to move. Wanda sobbed quietly. _

"_It's called **Roulette**." Rossovich continued "The French invented it, but we Russians like to add some excitement to our games. So while the French like to play with dice and wheel, over here we play with a gun." He flicked open the chamber of his gun and let several bullets fall to the floor. Then he rapidly shut it again, spun the cylinder, pointed the gun at Wanda and fired. _

"_No!" Pietro screamed. But the gun clicked harmlessly, the chamber empty. Rossovich laughed._

"_You see how the game works? Your sister has won the first round." He spun the cylinder again, and this time pointed it at a terrified Mayra. It clicked harmlessly once more. Pietro was shaking and Wanda was sobbing loudly now. "You really should have just been a good little boy and come quietly with me to Moscow. A live subject is worth more than a dead one, but probably not by much." _

"He pointed his gun at my head. I shut my eyes tight...I heard a loud bang and felt a flash of light... I was sure I was dead...but..."

_Pietro had heard Rossovich screaming. _

"When I opened my eyes, Rossovich was on fire...I think the oil lamp must have exploded..."

_Rossovich was flailing erratically in a desperate attempt to put the fire out, which ironically only gave the flames more oxygen, soon they'd engulfed the furniture around him. Wanda stared at the burning man, seemingly locked in a trance. _

"_Wanda!" Pietro shouted running over and shaking his sister. She looked at him and blinked a couple of times as though she'd been disturbed from a deep sleep._

"_Children! We must go!" Mayra shouted._

"Mayra grabbed both of us by the arm and pulled us out the house..."

_The trio had fled into the night leaving Rossovich screaming on the floor, trapped in the burning building behind them._

"We didn't stop moving until sunset the next day... Mayra said couldn't we return to the village or Djanjo's farm. If the army ever found what had happened to Rossovich, they'd put us on trial and it wouldn't be a fair one..." Pietro said sadly. "She said our best hope was to start again somewhere new. Her uncle worked on a dock on the coast. He managed to smuggle us on board a freighter headed for America...

The night before we were due to dock in New York something happened on board the ship...I still don't know what...but it was bad and the ship started filling with water, we started to sink. Everyone was running around shouting and screaming...and I was really scared because I can't swim...nor could Wanda...I don't really remember too much of what happened after that...only being up to my neck in cold water...then waking up in hospital a week later...

I kept asking about my sister and Mayra, but all the grown ups just kept looking at me and nodding with these stupid smiles on their faces...like I was some kind of idiot..."Pietro scowled at the memory "I knew more languages than they did..." the boy sniffed then and blinked rapidly a few times "just...just not the one I needed to make them understand.. " he began to tear up in frustration.

"You couldn't speak any English and they made no attempt find someone who knew Russian.." Erik concluded sympathetically.

Eric fished a handkerchief from his pocket an moved to give it to Pietro, but the boy moved away, quickly wiping his face with his sleeve to remove any evidence of tears.

"I'm NOT crying." He sniffed defensively as though Erik had accused him. "I never cry...Something just got in my eye..."

"Of course." Erik agreed, taking pity on the boy's pride. Part of him wanted to comfort Pietro, but his intellect told him the boy would not react at all well to his touch. If his son wasn't comfortable accepting a handkerchief, Erik knew Pietro would not allow him put arm around his shoulders. The boy turned his back to Erik and continued to wipe his eyes.

"Did you eventually find out? What happened to Wanda and Mayra...you speak English well enough now...I take it you asked again?"

"Of course!" Pietro spun spun around and snapped angrily. Erik had not meant it as an accusation. He thought, his tone had been curious, with no hint of blame. But Pietro exploded "They never tell you anything! They all act like you're stupid and they think they know everything! They say they're doing it for your own good but they're not! They don't care! " Pietro kicked the bucket clear across the cell in anger. "Nobody cares! 'Sit down Pietro, shut up Pietro, don't ask stupid questions Pietro'!" Angry tears spilled over his cheeks, he stood staring a the floor, shaking with his hands in fists, tension making his small body rigid.

Erik knew Pietro's sudden rage for what it was : raw pain. The same urge had crawled his skin often enough. Pietro didn't have to explain his tirade any further for Erik to understand the frustrations that he must encountered when dealing with foster parents or social services. The authorities obviously would not believe reuniting a child with an illegal immigrant to be a good idea, and separating siblings probably made them easier to place. He moved closer to Pietro and risked putting a hand on his shoulder.

"The people who said those things to you -they're insects. They are _nothing_." Erik whispered fiercely. "You should not let their words affect you ."

Pietro looked at him in and blinked, water still filling his eyes. "..I never stopped looking for Wanda or Mayra..." he sniffed "I'd never break my promise..I just...I just have to get out of here..then I can start looking again..." Pietro wiped away more tears his shoulders slumping. "...but I don't know how..."

Erik placed his other hand on Pietro's opposite shoulder and turned the boy to him gently.

"I'm going to get us both out of this place, don't worry. Then I'm going to help you find your sister."

Pietro blinked at him in surprise. No one had ever offered to help him track down Wanda before.

"You know a way out of here?" Pietro asked hopefully.

"In a sense. If we can stay out of trouble for a few more hours, we'll be dining on steak and caviar for supper."

Pietro had been about to ask what caviar was, but the door to the cell suddenly opened. Light rushed in, blinding it's two occupants. When his eye's adjusted, Erik saw Dr Goldberg and two guards armed with cattle prods standing in the doorway. Erik mentally cursed, he had been too preoccupied with Pietro to sense their approach. Pulling the boy behind him protectively, he drew himself to his full height and faced them.

"Mr Magneto...I would very much appreciate it if you would accompany us." Goldberg said.

_A bit of dramatic license is being taken with the Soviets here. There's actually no record of them doing anything like this in the post Stalin era. But *shrug* it makes for good drama no ;) and it's only a couple decades out, and Rossovich is supposed to be a psychopath, and they often act independently of any orders from the government._

_Pietro's mutant powers have not fully emerged yet at the time of the flashback. But has the stamina and reflexes of a gifted athlete of a similar age. _


	8. Jailbreak

Erik gave Goldberg an icy stare.

"I didn't think you'd be in such a hurry to see me again." He stated lacing each word with obvious displeasure "This is quite the SURPRISE..." he finished slowly barely disguising his double meaning.

" I apologize for the intrusion Mr Magneto. But I'm afraid it was unavoidable.." Goldberg replied. One of the guards snorted.

"Oh yeah, we're terribly sorry for detaining you Mr mutie, Sir" the other guard laughed at his

colleague's joke. "Want me to stick a prod this one's uppity ass Doc?"

"I don't believe that will be necessary Stephan." Goldberg said giving the guard a sharp look.

"Mr Magneto?" She stepped aside and motioned at the open door, inviting him to walk through of his own accord.

Erik scowled at the guards. He was dying to release some of his pent up frustration, but Erik knew there was little point in starting a fight that he could not win. He felt Pietro shift nervously behind him, when Erik glanced down, the child looked back him with big blue-green eyes filled with fear.

"I'll be back soon." Erik whispered to him in Romani. Then walked out of the cell glowering at Goldberg.

The guards escorted Erik and the doctor down a series of corridors and down a flight of stairs. Eventually they reached a pair of double steel doors which opened into a large laboratory.

"Over there." One of the guards said gruffly, prodding Erik in the back and gesturing in the direction of what appeared to be a dentist chair with some less than wholesome modifications. The most sinister being the iron chains and leather straps, Erik had no intention of letting anyone restrain him with them. Something of the thought must have shown in his face, because Goldberg stepped forward.

"Thank you Stephan, Graham. You both may go now." she nodded to each of the guards in turn.

"Are you sure you want to leave this mutie unstrapped Doc? He looks like trouble..."

"I will be fine. I need him cognitive for the tests and I have my own protection. If you wouldn't mind taking a seat Mr Magneto..."

The guards casts doubtful glances at one another but obeyed the doctor and left the laboratory. Erik still stared coolly at Goldberg, but without the same homicidal intensity he had telegraphed in the the cell. He sat down. Goldberg turned on a computer terminal next to the chair and began fiddling with the dials.

"You said I'd have twenty-four hours-" Erik hissed, Goldberg cut him off.

"-Which was what I believed at the time. It appears though, that your reputation has preceded you and you have attracted some special attention..."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning...I would keep my voice down Mr Magneto. We are being watched." Goldberg whispered.

Erik looked at the far wall, which was entirely composed of a large mirror. He suspected that it was of the two-way variety.

"Let me guess...the audience wants the monkey to perform? "

"In a manner of speaking..."

"That's going to be somewhat difficult without my powers isn't it?"

"I have been ordered to remedy that..."

Goldberg gestured towards a syringe lying on the table next to the monitor. "Ordinarily this antidote is used to briefly restore a subject's mutant abilities for observation purposes...But you have already ingested a significantly high amount of the antidote contained in the pills you swallowed earlier. Another dose might have unpredictable side effects- " Goldberg explained.

"-Ignorance is bliss doctor. I'd rather not know all the gruesome possibilities of your drug."

"I believe in informed consent Mr Magneto"

Erik nearly burst out laughing.

"But of course you do. That's why you work here(!)" Erik whispered sarcastically.

"No..." Goldberg replied looking very tired " That's why I want destroy this place. The things I do here, the things WE do here, they're a corruption of my medical training and my hippocratic oath..." She looked down " They are disgusting and I am deeply ashamed of them"

"Then why did you start working for Omega?" Erik asked his eyes narrowing in suspicion and no small amount of confusion.

"My only child, a daughter, was a mutant. When she was twelve she started growing green scales all over her body. I was born and raised in Germany, and in the early days of the Riech the Nazi's took away my husband simply for having different opinions on politics and 'wrong' religion. If they believed people from a different continent were subhuman, the conclusions they would draw about my daughter terrified me... We left Germany as soon we were able to, and settled Estonia and I found work at a local hospital. But by the time my daughter was eighteen the scales covered her entirely...she hated herself. She was a prisoner in her own home, unable to go out in public through fear of what others might do to her. I wanted so badly to help her. I used my medical and biological training to develop a compound that would suppress the physical manifestations caused by the x-gene. Somehow the Soviets learned of my research and offered to fund me, on the condition that I moved my research to their Omega laboratories. Omega had access to some very advanced bioengineering technology, the speed of my research increased exponentially and I soon had a breakthrough.

Several months later I thought I had discovered a _cure_..."

"Your daughter wasn't sick" Erik hissed harshly "Not in body at any rate. " to him it was yet another case of Sapien Society poisoning a mutant's mind by planting and nurturing the seeds of self loathing.

"I know that now." Goldberg replied, her voice heavy with regret and guilt. "She was perfect and as she was. I only wish I had put my energy into convincing her of that, instead of consuming myself with finding a cure...but I just wanted to her to have happy normal life"

Erik's distaste showed on his face.

"Normal is a relative term. It's your poison that's pumped through the air ducts, isn't it? The compound that robs mutants of their abilities, you developed it-that's your 'cure'?" Erik accused.

Goldberg nodded solemnly. "Yes"

"And your daughter?"

"Dead."

Erik looked at Goldberg shock flashing across his usually stoic features.

"In the early days, the compound was quite unstable. Her body became rapidly immune to the drug and the scales grew back. She kept asking for stronger more frequent doses...There seemed to be no side effects at first so I agreed...But then almost over night her body reacted badly to it. " Goldberg turned her head from him her jaw tense "I will not go into detail Mr Magneto, but her death was ...not painless or peaceful...She was in agony for weeks before she begged me to end her life...You need not look at me like that... The state that she was in could not be called living. Overexposure to the dampening compound causes loss of motor neutron function, haemorrhaging and rapid malignant cell growth "

"Tumours..." Erik muttered, more to himself than Goldberg "the drug gives you cancer and paralysis...then internal bleeding"

"Only at extremely high doses...or extended exposure...we are talking years Mr Magneto, you need not be too alarmed"

Erik studied Goldberg for a moment. Then an obvious truth occurred to him. "You're dying. You've been exposed to the drug too long yourself." He said. "That's why you're helping Xavier; save a few, you'll be forgiven the damage you've done to many?"

Goldberg smiled bitterly "You sound cynical Mr Magneto. Does that seem cliché to you? That I am sinner seeking redemption... "

Erik's looked back at her, his expression stony "Forgiveness difficult for the dead to grant..."

"I said I was seeking redemption Mr Magneto, not forgiveness. Forgiveness is not something I feel have a right to ask for..." Goldberg said quietly "Or perhaps I seek to convince myself I am not a complete monster. " she said bitterly. "Also you would now understand, I think, the desire to save a child?"

"...and what it is to loose one." Erik said. Goldberg looked surprised at this,_ Charles has never scanned my mind deeply enough to touch on Anya then_, Erik thought, Or perhaps he has simply not shared this information with Goldberg. Neither possibility would really surprise him, he'd somewhat suppressed those memories and Shaw had dominated his thoughts when he and Xavier had first met. "It's no accident I ended up in the same cell as Pietro is it? Charles told you."

"Yes. But please do not be angry at him, for revealing your relationship to the boy. He -and I- sought only to aide you"

Erik frowned, he guarded his secrets fiercely, but...

"I'm not angry." He said after a moment. "I would not have been able to locate Pietro by myself. Nor even have known of his existence had it not been for Charles, I'm grateful for that." His son might have died in this awful floating prison if not for Goldberg and Xavier. Whatever else he thought of Goldberg's work, he couldn't deny that she had helped him. "So you will not give me the antidote against my will...But what will you do if I do not consent to this injection Doctor? "

"I will face the consequences from my superiors "

"Noble gesture Doctor, but ultimately a useless one." Erik said rolling his eyes, was he the only person in this game thinking more than two moves ahead? "They will kill you and then inject me with the solution anyway, though I suppose your conscience would be clean." ...no wonder she got along so well with Charles...

"You have another suggestion Mr Magneto?"

"What are the likely side effects of overdosing on the antidote?"

"I thought you didn't want to know?"

"I've changed my mind."

"Diarrhoea, migraines, brain haemorrhaging and death are the most serious" Goldberg answered "Although some subjects only exhibit one or two minor side effects and others do not show any ill effects at all."

"Well...They say fortune favours the brave. " Erik said after a moment's consideration. He sighed, rolled up his sleeve and let Goldberg slide the needle into his vein. At first he felt a burning heat move through his arm as the clear substance flowed into his body. Then suddenly his senses sharpened. Erik instinctively knew his powers were back, but there was more, they felt amplified...he could sense things in ways he couldn't previously...he could feel whole body of the ship, not just the outer shell, nor just as a mass of metal...but the moving cogs in the machinery...the energy given off by the engines...the clicks of the guards' boots. And also a buzz behind all of that...a magnetic field... flowing around the ship. Was that what was causing Charles' psychic block? _Einstein would have us all believe that everything composed of energy after all_...Erik thought. Thoughts were just another instance of electromagnetic energy...He'd thought his powers were limited to the macro manipulation of metal...but the fact that he could sense this field at all opened up a whole realm of possibilities...perhaps he didn't even need a helmet to block telepaths*... An almost drunken grin formed on Erik's face as the feeling of power washed over him.

"Are you feeling alright Mr Magneto?" Goldberg asked with concern. Erik's pupils were dilated and he looked intoxicated.

"How long does this last?" Erik asked, more loudly than he'd intended to, slightly slurring his words as he dragged his focus back to Goldberg.

"It takes five minutes for your abilities to fully return and you will only have use of them for sixty seconds" but it wasn't Goldberg's voice that answered him, it was male voice with a heavy Russian accent which crackled over a loudspeaker "So I strongly advise you don't do anything you may later regret...Mr Lensherr" The mirror-wall began to side upwards, revealing a tall well built man in uniform. As he stepped out of the shadowy hidden room and into the light, Erik found himself staring at the pallor of the man's skin. Despite having the physique of a body builder he was a sickly shade of off-white. In addition Erik was sensing an unnatural amount of metal in him. He looked the uniformed man up and down.

"You have me at a disadvantage...you know my name but I do not know yours Mr...?" Erik enquired. The man smirked at Erik's boldness, and inclined his head in a slight bow.

"Rossovich. Commander Arkady Rossovich. Though much like yourself, I now prefer to got by my alias: _Omega Red..._I must say it makes a nice change for me to introduce myself like an officer and a gentleman should, Mr Lensherr- or should I say Magneto? Most of our...guests...behave quite uncouthly upon meeting me."

Erik's mind was cast back to the name in Pietro's story. Surely it was too much of a coincidence that someone of the same name could be in front of him now?

"Predators are always courteous to one another when they first meet." Erik replied smiling his cat like tight lipped smile that wasn't really a smile at all, but the expression an emotion much more sinister and primal. If he had licked his lips, Erik would have resembled a tiger ready to go hunting.

"I think I like you Magneto" Rossovich said laughing. "We might have gotten along, if it wasn't for that unfortunate mistake in your genetic code."

Erik was going to enjoy killing this man. "You seem to know a lot about me, I'm flattered."

"Your exploits eight years ago in Vinnytsia were of great interest to the Kremlin and the invisible grapevines of Europe are abuzz with news of a new mercenary faction – 'The Brotherhood' supposedly led by a mutant with similar abilities to those previously exhibited by Erik Lensherr...well it wasn't hard for us to put two and two together..." Rossovich paused for effect, looking for some reaction from Erik who still watched with the same strange smile on his face, he was beginning to feel sightly unsettled. "All the reports on you state you are a highly dangerous man" Rossovich continued dropping his charming façade "Well so am I." Erik still sat unmoving, smiling, his eyes like a cat watching a goldfish in a bowl. Rossovich suddenly felt irritated, he wasn't used to people being so non-pulsed by his presence, let alone amused. He stepped forward, hoping to make Erik nervous, or at least wipe that annoying smile from his face. Rossovich was much bulkier than Erik, though only a little taller, he stared down scornfully. "Do you find something funny Mr Lensherr? "

"Just you." was Erik's clipped reply. Rossovich's upper lip curled into a snarl. He leaned in so close that Erik could smell his breath.

"I know things about your life that you don't even know Mr Lensherr. "

"Really?" Erik asked in a dangerous whisper "and just what is it you think you know?"

"I know that you had a wife ...you were searching for her...I know where she is...if you're cooperative I might tell you-urk!"

Rossovich's sentence ended abruptly as Erik mentally tugged on the metal he had sensed in the other man's body. The Russian's frame levitated, the magnetic pull forcing his arms away from his body like he'd been crucified on an invisible cross.

"My wife is dead. You killed her. Or men following your orders did." Erik said coldly slowly circling the paralysed Rossovich. "Then you tried to kill my son and daughter. Is that what you were going to share with me in exchange for my cooperation?"

"You're a fool Magneto! You and I could have done a deal! But now I will have to kill you. The antidote does not usually work this fast..but make no mistake, it's effects will wear of in few seconds then you will be begging me for mercy!" Rossovich spat with fury.

"No..." Goldberg said. The eyes of both men turned to her, they had forgotten her presence in the room "I believe Mr Magneto will find himself fully in command of his powers for sometime time...in fact, I'm theorizing he is even finding them somewhat enhanced?"

Eric grinned now. It was the feral wolfish grin, and it made Rossovich's eyes widen in panic, he didn't keep his eyes on Erik for long however, because they, like the rest of him went hurtling across the room with the slightest of gestures from the master of magnetism.

"You bitch!" Rossovich screamed at Goldberg "You gave him something else! You'll pay for your betrayal" The Russian pulled a pistol from his jacket and fired a round at Goldberg and Erik. The air around the pair rippled like water and the bullets stopped in mid air, Erik hadn't even moved, he hadn't even thought, he hadn't need to. Usually he had to think about the bullets as separate entities, and make a gesture to deflect each one individually, but Goldberg's drug had released something in his subconscious, somehow blurring the boundaries between himself and rest of the universe, he was generating a shield that felt stronger than anything he had manifested before and he had done it purely as a reflex. Somewhat mesmerized by this new development in his abilities, Erik reached forward and flicked flicked the edges of the new spherical force field that encased both him and the doctor with his finger tips, blue sparks of energy flickered from his hand and he inhaled sharply in surprise staring at his own hand. If he could generate an energy field to shield himself, could he also generate an offensive electromagnetic pulse? And if he could, would it be strong enough to stop a person?

"Guards, shoot them!" Rossovich shouted. Erik's head swivelled to the opening double doors as more bullets embedded themselves in his shield. Rossovich had pushed an alarm while Erik had been analysing his new natural arsenal. Several guards rushed through and started shooting.

"No you fools! He can stop the bullets!" Rossovich bellowed "Use the grenades!"

Erik decided that this was an opportune moment to conduct an experiment. He made a fist and concentrated on gathering a pool of energy at it's centre. When he felt a burning heat in his palm he threw the energy in the direction of the guards, a beam of white-blue light shot from his body temporarily blinding everyone before it collided with the men running towards him. The light quickly dissipated leaving a behind the scent of smouldering flesh, and two fallen guards. The remaining men had halted in shock. Erik grinned.

Pietro pressed his ear up against the cell door. Something was definitely happening. Earlier he'd heard what sounded like an explosion. Now he could hear the heavy boots of the guards running in the corridor outside. He had caught some muffled words through the door: "Backup" "Escaped" "Medical attention" "Bring the tranquillizer guns". While the boy was trying figure out what this all meant, the bolt on his cell door suddenly slid open with a loud clunk. Pietro jumped back startled by the sound, and a second later the heavy door swung open. Pietro retreated to the back of the cell out of habit, expecting to see a guard come in. However the doorway was empty, like the door had simply swung open of it's own accord...

After he recovered from his surprise, Pietro moved forward cautiously stuck his head through the open door peeping down the corridor, a group of guards were staring about themselves in bewilderment, and Pietro soon realised why. It wasn't just his cell door that had opened - it was all of them. The captive mutants were emerging from their cells and flowing out into the corridor, some giving the outnumbered guards menacing looks.

"What the f***? Who opened these doors? Get back in your cells freaks!" One of the guards snarled, turning his tazer on the nearest mutant. It was an ill conceived idea. A ripple of tension went through the crowd of former captives and one of the larger mutants grabbed the the guard that had shocked his cell mate, throwing him against a wall and knocking him unconscious. The other mutants immediately followed suit, and a riot soon broke out in the corridor. Pietro was trying to decide between hiding in his cell until the fighting had calmed down and making a dash for the top deck, when over the sound of smashed skulls, gun fire and broken bones he heard a familiar voice over the intercom that chilled him to the bone.

"Code Red! Code Red! All guards to laboratory one!" A thick Russian accent shouted "Subject 03553 , Erik Lensherr has repowered! All-" Rossovich's panicked voice stopped abruptly as all the speakers in the corridor exploded in unison.

Pietro stared up at the remains of a speaker, his body frozen in place. Could it really be the same man that killed Django? He didn't think anyone could have survived that fire...But he could never mistake that voice...and what was that had he said about Erik?

* * *

><p>*In the comics Magneto doesn't need his helmet to block telepathic attacks. Want to know more? Go here: .<p> 


	9. No quater given

Pietro was slowly picking his way through the chaos in the corridor to the nearest stair well, dodging the fighting guards and mutants. He had been taken to Laboratory One several times before and was fairly sure he could find his way there again. It had occurred to Pietro that perhaps he should be heading AWAY from Erik who by all accounts was at the epicentre of the chaos, and instead be putting his efforts into trying to get above deck towards freedom. But Pietro saw several flaws in that plan, the reinforcements for the guards seemed to be coming from the floor above, maybe even from the deck itself. Pietro reasoned his chances of being recaptured were depressingly high if he went that way, especially alone. And what would he do once he was on deck? He still couldn't swim...On the other hand if Erik had somehow managed to get his powers back, open all the cell doors and hold off several waves of guards, tagging along beside the man didn't seem like a bad plan at all.

Pietro knew it was stupid put so much faith into someone he'd only just met, but there was something strangely honest Erik's demeanour, he didn't sugar coat things. Many adults had promised him things in the past, all of them using that patronising tone one used with lesser beings: that he'd be safe, that he'd be happy, that they were looking out for him...that everything would be alright if he just did this or that...They weren't promises really, but bargains, if he cooperated with them and didn't cause too much trouble they'd deliver on some fuzzy ill defined idea. However Erik struck Pietro as a man that had no need for false promises and very seldom bothered to lie. If he really wanted something, he'd likely just take it. There would be no need for niceties and he certainly didn't trouble himself with conforming to other people's expectations.

Erik emitted a dark aura of power, and even had a slight touch of madness about him. In short in Pietro's mind Erik was a badass mofo, and for a streetwise seven year old that elevated the man to role model status. But if all that wasn't enough, there was the fact that despite Erik's fierceness he had not seemed cruel to Pietro. He had given up his jacket and his food, as well as offered to help Pietro find Wanda without asking for anything in return; he had not physically hurt Pietro even though he had drawn Erik's blood twice, and Pietro knew from bitter experience it took a lot less than that to push some adults to violence. With all this mind, Pietro had decided that where ever Erik was, well, that was the place to be.

Pietro arrived at the corridor which lead to Laboratory One fairly quickly and without incident. From the end of the hallway he could see that the double doors were jammed open with debris and the fallen bodies of several guards. Beyond them Pietro could see flashes of light and hear the sounds of a battle. The corridor was dark, and seconds ago a calm computerised voice had announced that:

"The main generator is offline. Engine failure has occurred. Switching to backup power reserve"

Now the dim backup lighting was flickering on and off unconvincingly. Pietro felt his way along the wall to the double doors then gasped as he peeped into the laboratory. Inside Erik was levitating a couple inches of the ground, cocooned in spherical forcefield which appeared to be composed of blue sparks of lightening. He was smiling. Doctor Goldberg was off to the side taking cover behind an over turned workbench. Around Erik several guns and other metallic ammunition also floated, their barrels pointing menacingly at his enemies, who were at the opposite end of the room. Rossovich and half a dozen or so guards had arranged the remaining lab furniture into a makeshift fort.

Rossovich had ordered his men to throw grenades at Erik, an order which they had reluctantly followed despite their fear that they would sink the ship. Erik's shield had absorbed most of the impact, saving his body and the laboratory from too much damage, the heat had caused some minor burns to his forearms but nothing too serious. Erik had sent several more electric blasts in Rossovich's direction as retaliation and summoned the remaining grenades and munitions to him. Not for the first time he had also considered calling out to the strange metal that he had sensed in Omega Red's body. But then decided against it, that would draw the battle to a close far too quickly. Despite the burns, Erik was actually enjoying himself, he was pleasantly power drunk on his new abilities, and he wanted to experiment more on his trapped quarry. Erik already knew he would win, but he wanted Rossich's defeat to be slow, he wanted the man to thoroughly taste despair, and when Erik had broken his spirit he would slowly kill his body.

_Erik! Erik this is madness!_ Charles' voice rumbled inside Erik's head, the German scowled. Erik reasoned by taking out the ship's power he must have also turned off whatever magnetic field had previously been blocking the telepath's reach. _End this now. Then come up and help us with the evacuation on deck. Let Rossovich surrender._

_I'm busy._ Erik sent back, irritated by the interruption. As far as he was concerned he'd done his part for the evacuation process by opening the cell doors. Xavier really needed to stop badgering him. _Go away Charles_. Erik sent, as he concentrated on generating a frequency akin to the one that he'd sensed was blocking the telepath earlier. He felt a wall come up inside him thrusting Charles out of his head with force a force that violently severed the connection. He thought he heard a cry of pain and felt a twinge of guilt. He hoped he hadn't hurt the telepath...but Charles should really know better than to enter his thoughts uninvited in the first place, Erik had made his feelings on that subject crystal clear. He shook his head to clear it and returned his full attention Rossovich's hiding place, a wolfish grin plastered on his face.

"Come out, come out where ever you are..." Erik laughed tauntingly at the guards, he was playing with them, and loving every moment of it.

Rossovich scowled at Erik's words, he had been in the military for a long time, and whatever else could be said about the commander he had always been a good tactician. But his tactics in this particular fight were obviously not working; it was time for new ones. Rossovich had noticed that Erik could not simultaneously send energy blasts and keep his defensive force field in place. The mutant could only direct the energy in one direction at a time, either around his body for protection, or at his enemies in the form of electric bolts. This was not currently a disadvantage to Magneto because he was only fighting a war on one front...Rossivich concluded that he needed to make Erik fight on two, and to do that he needed a distraction, he turned to the man on his right looking him up and down.

"Do you want to die a hero comrade?"

"S-sir?"

Rossovich grabbed the confused soldier by the lapels and threw him out into the open. The man immediately made an attempt to run back to cover, the look on Rossovich's face stopped him.

"Face the enemy comrade, or I will kill you myself!" Rossovich said coldly.

"Face him? With what?"

"Use your imagination." Rossovich replied narrowing his eyes.

The guard panicked, Rossovich didn't make idle threats. His commander _would_ kill him if he disobeyed, he ran at Magneto yelling a something that sounded like a cross between a battle cry and a scream of terror. Erik recognised the guard that now ran at him as 'Graham' the one who had insulted him earlier.

"Your men aren't very smart Rossovich!" Erik berated as he released an energy bolt at the guard. Rossovich stepped out from the behind the furniture barricade as Erik's shield disappeared, aiming a plastic tranquillizer gun at Erik.

"No." Rossovich said smiling "But I am." Too late Erik realized his error, he could not recall the energy he had sent to dispatch Graham, nor could he replace his forcefield in time. Erik tried to dodge but he was too slow, the dart sunk deep into his left leg. Immediately he felt the strength drain from his body, lacking the energy or focus to levitate he collapsed on the floor. He looked up weakly to see Rossovich walking towards him, a victorious smirk on his face.

"I told you'd be begging for mercy Magneto..." as he spoke the Russian spread his hands outwards revealing slits in his skin just below his wrists. Erik watched queasily, fighting his body's desire to for unconsciousness as two long tentril-like coils, resembling metallic tentacles wormed their way slowly out of each one of Omega Red's arms.

"You're a mutant..?" Erik muttered weakly trying to force his body to his feet and collapsing again. His world was spinning, and for the second time in twenty-four hours his powers were not answering his call. When he looked up, he saw that Rossovich's face had twisted in to a mask of rage, apparently triggered by Erik's speculation.

"You dare insult me! I am the creation of the finest Soviet scientists! Superior to man or mutant! I AM NOT SOME FREAK!" Rossovich roared bringing down one of the metallic tendrils down like a powerful whip, Erik barely reacted in time. He rolled to the side just quickly enough to avoid the full force of the blow, which left a large dent in the metal floor. Glancing at it, Erik realised it could have smashed his skull in two, if he didn't find a way to equalise the fight soon, he was a dead man. Rossovich drew back to deliver another blow Erik dived behind the workbench that Goldberg was sheltering behind, at his back Erik heard another crash as Rossivich's blow collided with a table and it splintered in two.

"You have to give me some more of the antidote!" Erik panted at Goldberg, the edges of his vision were beginning go dark, and he had started to sweat.

"But it could kill you! The cocktail of drugs you've already had is dangerous enough-!"

"_Could_ is kill is better than _will_ kill!" Erik hissed. Goldberg blinked looking panicked for the first time since he'd met her, then she nodded once looking determined. She searched her pockets rapidly for the vial.

"Ack! It was left on the table over there!" She to pointed the now destroyed medical cabinet where several syringes, test tubes and vials lay smashed on the floor "...wait I might have something else-" She rummaged in her pockets again and pulled out an epi-pen** from her lab coat "Perhaps if I gave you a dose of adrenaline, it would counter balance the effects of the tranquillizer...but I am not at all certain this will work..."

"Anything is better than nothing. Hurry" Erik replied. Goldberg fumbled to prepare the shot. It was a battle to keep his eyes open now, could feel himself fading, his body slowing down. He collapsed on the floor. The blackness began to spread over him. He couldn't pass out here, he'd be defenceless, he'd die and he couldn't die here. He needed to make sure Pietro had got out safely. More than that, he needed to insure that the world was safe for his child and children like him. He needed to destroy Omega. He really should have listened to Charles when he had the chance. Why was Xavier always right damn him!

Somewhere on the edge of his consciousness Erik heard the sounds of more lab equipment smashing, then Goldberg's short scream of terror. He knew Rossovich was upon them now, his first blow had destroyed the workbench his second would crush Erik's skull. He was going to die here, as a lab rat, perhaps there was such a thing as fate after all. Then a gun shot sounded. Rossovich growled in pain and Erik heard a most unexpected voice.

"Y-you leave him alone!" It was Pietro, the fear was plain in the boy's voice, _but there is steel there too_, Erik thought to himself as the drug pulled him into unconsciousness.

* From the Rocky 5 soundtrack. Seemed awfully appropriate since this fic is set in the cold war just like the film.

**Alright I'll come clean, I have no idea if they had these back in the 60s. If anyone knows the facts do let me know :)


	10. Ghosts and Monsters

_Many thanks for the review amon! It made me squee! Yes! I totally agree with you! Magneto is a very complicated character that is too often over simplified. It is a shame that they don't often explore his parental ties in the comics, even in the house of M series we didn't get too much interaction between him and Pietro. In my opinion the dynamic between them was it's best in the Age of Apocalypse epic. The x-men evolution animated series had a bit more dadneto in it, but got cancelled heartbreakingly early :( As for the 60s flavour it is something I've been kinda struggling with, particularly the slang, if you know of any good 60s lingo websites do let me know. Thanks again for the lovely review_

_Little werewolf san: I am thinking of maybe having something with Lorna somewhere down the line, but there is something of an age gap between her and the twins. So I'm still trying to figure out were Erik would have had time to meet her mother..._

* * *

><p>Pietro had watched from his spot near the doorway as Rossovich had smashed the last barrier between himself and a now defenceless Erik. The Russian had mercilessly slashed one of his metallic coils across Goldberg's chest, slicing through flesh and bone. Blood exploded from the fatal wound as she cried out, but her scream ended quickly. Her damaged lungs did not have the air capacity left to carry the sound. Goldberg collapsed next Erik, clutching her chest with one hand and the pen with her other.<p>

The guns that Erik had previously been levitating around him now lay on the floor, they had clattered to the ground when the tranquillizer dart had neutralized Erik.

The memory of Rossovich hovering over his dead foster father flashed unbidden before Pietro's eyes, he was seized with an reckless instinct to stop a similar fate befalling Erik, the boy dove forward and snatched a disguarded gun from the ground and fired at Rossovich's head.

The bullet ricochetted off of one of Rossovich's aloof coils, grazing his shoulder. Growling, his head whipped round to see a white haired boy holding a gun. A boy that he instantly recognised.

"Y-You leave him alone!" Pietro warned. The threat sounded feeble, even to himself. A cat like Erik probably had a thousand stone cold retorts up his sleeve. But that had been the best that Pietro could come up with, and now all he could do was continue to point the gun with shaking hands at the colossal man that stood in front of him, and hope it was enough of a threat to stop the commander.

"Well isn't this a grand reunion..." Rossovich said quietly, his cold eyes locking on the child's like Pietro was something filthy that he had found on the bottom his shoe "...Goldberg's been keeping far too many secrets from me...How long have you been my guest boy?"

Pietro didn't answer, his mouth had gone dry and his confinement had made if difficult to keep track of time anyway.

"Gone mute boy? " Rossovich demanded narrowing his eyes. " I dare say I can help you find your voice again...you'll be screaming yourself hoarse before I'm through.." He began to move towards Pietro, the shaking in the boy's hands increased " I've never forgotten your face, but then you did **burn** it to my memory, you that woman, and that bastard sister of yours!...I was agony for weeks...

Oh I've been wounded in battle before...but the pain I was in after that fire..." Rossovich trailed off, his right eye twitching slightly as he remembered "...Still... I suppose I should thank you. It **was** in the hospital that Omega Division found me after, they offered me a chance at new life, a better life." He smiled that same gruesome smile Pietro had seen back at the Maximoff's farmhouse "They were impressed that I had survived such fatal injuries, they said it hinted at a robust underlying constitution. That I was just the man they needed as a volunteer. I was utterly disfigured of course, but the scientists said they could fix that. That said that they could make me stronger, a perfect soldier...and they have..."

Pietro stared at Rossovich's pale skin and the deadly coils exuding from each one of his wrists, neither "perfect" or "soldier" came to mind, the only word the boy could think of was "monster". He pulled the trigger on the gun, but it clicked empty. He tried several more times, each time he got the same result, Pietro backed away as he squeezed the trigger until he was up against the wall. Rossovich laughed evilly as he used a coil reclaim his own stolen pistol from the floor, he checked to see if it was still loaded; it was.

"You never did get your turn on Russian Roulette did you boy?" Pietro flattened himself into the wall, wishing he could melt into it, his heart was beating out of his chest "Don't worry, the first bullet won't kill you...I'll start at your feet...and work my way up to between your eyes "

As Rossovich spoke, one of the guards stepped forward, he'd been watching Erik and Goldberg warily. The doctor was still breathing but was surrounded by a crimson pool of her own blood. The mutant appeared to be out cold, but he thought it wise to ensure Erik stayed permanently cold "Do you want us to finish the other mutant sir?" One of his remaining men asked the commander. Rossovich's head swivelled, like he was dog protecting his meat, he would **not** be denied his kill.

"I will have no interference! Their lives are both mine to take!"

"Yes sir, of course sir...we didn't mean..." the man trailed off, backing away in attempt to avoid angering his superior, he suddenly wanted to be very far away from Rossovich "...a-are we dismissed then sir? There was a riot on the bridge...and if you're in control here sir...we should probably help the other-"

"-Begone then!" Rossovich snapped, irritated by the man's fumbling words. The remaining guards quickly left, collecting their previously confiscated weapons from the floor. No one questioned the commander's ability to handle an unconscious man, a half dead elderly woman and an unarmed seven year old.

* * *

><p><em>A bit of a short update, longer one next time<em>


	11. Little Lion

Goldberg could feel her body growing cold, and after years in the medical profession she was brutally realistic about her prognosis, the wound was fatal, but what pained her now, more than the gaping wound in her chest, was the fact that she would die before she had had the chance reverse the damage she'd done to so many people's lives. Summoning what was left of her strength, she began crawling towards Erik. He was not far from her, less than several feet, Rossovich's blow had knocked her away from him. The painful crawl felt like an eternity but eventually she reached Erik, who was still unconscious. Goldberg pushed the needle into his thigh, and prayed.

Across the room Rossovich loomed over Pietro. "I think perhaps we will not play roulette quite yet.." the older man said lowering his gun. The coldness of Rossovich's tone sapped any relief that that statement might otherwise have triggered from Pietro "...I think it would be too little fun for me..." Rossovich continued, his eyes fixed on the child's and full of malice.

"We didn't do anything-" Pietro shouted defiantly "-**you** attacked us! You killed our mother! You deserved it!" Even as he spoke, Pietro knew he shouldn't risk angering Rossovich further, but the words were out of his mouth almost before they had fully formed in his mind. Rossovich went red and looked murderous. Pietro tried to bolt for the double doors, but lacking the speed that his budding mutant abilities usually afforded him, he was much too slow to avoid the coil that whipped down across is back. The fiery pain and force of the blow made the boy fall to his knees. He had been badly beaten with a belt before...so badly in fact that he had ended up in hospital...at the time he had thought **that** pain was unbearable...but this, was a thousand times worse..and he knew Rossovich had only used a percentage of his full strength to deliver the blow. Pietro put a hand to his back instinctively, and felt something wet, he was bleeding.

"You need to watch your mouth boy..." Rossovich growled. "For that I'm going to flay the skin off your back until you beg me to put a bullet in you" He brought the coil down again cruelly opening up another slash on along the boy's back. Pietro cried out, the pain making stars appear in front of his eyes.

Erik suddenly gasped, he'd been woken by someone's scream. _A child's...his child's, Pietro_. He tried to get his feet, but a weight on his legs stopped him. He looked to see Goldberg's body lying lifelessly on top of him, still griping the injection, she'd used to rouse him. He pulled the needle out of his thigh and attempted to find a pulse, he was saddened though not surprised to find her absent of one.

"Have you had enough yet boy? Ready to die now?" Erik heard Rossovich sneer. Pietro whimpered, he wanted to be brave but the pain was terrible. Rossovich pulled back for another blow, Pietro squeezed his eyes shut, but instead of the fiery slash he was expecting, he heard Rossovich grunt in surprise then roar in rage.

"Magneto?"

Turning he saw that Erik held his coil with his magnetism, but the task appeared to be causing the mutant quite a lot of strain, his face was twisted in effort. The godlike powers Erik had enjoyed earlier had faded, leaving his senses sluggish and his command over his abilities disjointed. Like running with a leg that was prone to muscle spasms. Calling to Rossovich's metal felt difficult now and was taking Erik's full concentration, as well as causing a horrible pain in the back of his skull which made him feel nauseous. Erik didn't trust himself to fight in this state, in addition to the pounding in his head, his body also ached, he needed to finish Rossovich and get Pietro to safety, before he either passed out again or threw up, or both...

Rossovich tugged against Erik's pull magnetic pull with his own physical strength, Magneto might be awake again, but the match was more even now. The force that held him was not as confident as before, not as impenetrable, he sensed weakness. There was the feeling that Erik's magnetic grip would give if he countered strongly enough.

Rossovich brought his other coil down to slash at Erik. Erik stopped it mid air and with some obvious exertion, managed to keep it immobile.

Rossovich snarled and tried pulling his right arm back towards his body, towards his gun. Erik was sure he didn't have focus he needed to stop a bullet...So he released his hold on the coils, the sudden lack of tension sent his opponent off balance. As Rossovich tried to regain his equilibrium, Erik surprised his enemy by taking control of the metallic coils again and quickly tying them around the other man's body so that Rossovich was bound and trapped by his own weapons. Rossovich roared again and strained against the bonds.

"Tell me..." Erik said with a small hint of dark humour "With all the modifications they made to your body...did they ever think to give you gills?" Rossovich's eyes narrowed in confusion and then widened in recognition as he realized what Erik was planning to do. Before the Russian could form a reply Erik drew on all his strength and sent Rossovich hurtling first through the laboratory wall then through the ship's frame and finally as far toward the ocean bed as Erik could manage before his senses lost track of the metal in the drowning man...

x-x-x-x-x

Erik would later reflect that his defeat of Omega Red had been one of his less well thought out strategies...Hopefully Rossovich would drown before he could fully untangle himself. At the very least the Russian was no longer an immediate threat to either Pietro or himself. Unfortunately, the icy water that was now poured furiously through the Rossovich shaped hole **was**. It was already up to Pietro's neck and the boy was panicking. The situation was all the more terrifying because it reminded the child of the accident on-board the ship that had been carrying himself, his sister and Mayra to America.

As Erik witnessed Pietro flailing helplessly in the water, he made a mental promise to teach his son to swim when they where both back in full health and out of peril. Erik thought about using his powers to try mending the hole, but he'd felt severely ill when he'd pushed himself against Rossovich moments before, and he **really** didn't want to pass out again...So instead he half swam half waded over to the boy. Pietro grabbed at Erik the way drowning people do, griping and dragging in a desperate attempt to stay afloat. Erik reached him quickly and lifted his son out the water that had risen rapidly to his own chest. Pietro coughed and spluttered clinging to Erik like a life raft. In his panic he almost climbed on top of Erik's head. Erik pulled him down firmly so that they were eye to eye. He put an arm round his son's waist and cupped the boy's chin firmly with his free hand, forcing the boy to look at him.

"Pietro..Pietro listen to me!" Erik commanded when his son tried to continue flailing. Pietro stilled but he could feel the boy's heart racing "I won't let you drown, I promise. Put your arms around my neck and hang on tight. But don't fight and pull like that, you'll endanger us both." The boy gave a quick scared nod and did has he was told.

With Pietro clingling to him, Erik swan an aquatic obstacle course with one arm around around his son and the other pulling him forward through the floating furniture, bodies and debris. By the time he had reached the edge of the room, the water had risen even more dramatically, leaving only three feet of breathing space left above their heads. The double doors -the room's only exit - were completely submerged. The celling of the laboratory was somewhat higher than the one in the corridor, which meant that the whole hallway would already be underwater. Consequently Erik knew that to reach the stairwell and the upper floors he was going to have to swim the distance between the corridor and stairwell with only one breath. He turned to his son who's eyes were darting around wildly, searching for another way out. Erik could feel the boy shaking, he suspected it was an equal mixture of cold and fear.

"Pietro." The boy looked at him immediately this time "..we're going to swim underwater for a while. When I count to three, take a deep breath and hold it until we come up for air again."

Pietro shook his head forcefully- he was terrified of going further into the icy water. In his panic he started splashing and tried to pull away. Erik held him in place.

"Ah! And where do you think you're going young man?"

Pietro's rationality caught up with him and ceased his efforts to abandon his only flotation device, but when his eyes met Erik's they were filled with pure terror.

"Please..." Pietro pleaded to Erik, an edge of hysteria in his voice "P-Please I can't do it. I can't! Don't make me!"

"Pietro, we **cannot** stay here!" Erik snapped gesturing to their rapidly disappearing airspace and trying to keep his patience in check. Erik did not mean to be harsh, but they were running out of time and Pietro's irrational behaviour was slowing them down.

"Please..." Pietro begged again, he was shaking violently now and looked close to tears. Erik sighed. This wouldn't do. He needed Pietro's cooperation. The boy would find it difficult enough to hold his breath underwater for the required length of time while calm. If Pietro was panicking, which he was likely to do if Erik pulled him under against his will, he'd inhale water and drown, and Erik couldn't contemplate burying another of his children...he just **couldn't**. Erik squeezed his eyes shut and thought of Anya, thought of being a father, and thought of the voice he used with her...He opened them and looked at Pietro who's own eyes were cast down, in his own internal struggle, his little body tense.

"Pietro, I am not asking you to swim. Just to take a breath and hold on to me. I will do the rest. " Erik said gently. Pietro still shook his head stubbornly.

"Pietro we will die if we stay here...! You understand that, don't you?" Erik asked desperately, and it really was **we** because Erik couldn't leave his son.

"Wanda...Mayra..." The boy said quietly. Pietro's eyes looked tortured, he sniffed. _He wants to_ thought Erik. _He really wants to, but the fear and the memory are too strong_... Erik pushed his forehead to his son's and whispered to him.

"You are not there. This is not that day. It is a new day. That is past. I promise you, I will get us both to safety." Erik smiled at him softly " Come now...you were not afraid to fight me or Rossovich... but you are afraid of a little water?"

"It's not just **a little**..." Pietro squeeked, returning Erik's smile and gentle teasing with a shaky one of his own despite his fear. "...and...I didn't really think before doing the other stuff..."

"Well, you saved my life..." Erik said earnestly " ...You were like a little lion."

Pietro smiled shyly at Erik's praise.

"You've been very brave... " Erik continued. "...You can be brave for just a short while longer can't you little lion?"

Pietro hesitated, but then nodded slowly and solemnly after a moment.

"Then take a breath for me on the count of three? " Pietro nodded again.

"One

Two

Three"

Father and son took a deep breath and disappeared under the icy water.


	12. Freedom

_Thankyou again guys for the lovely reviews, they make me very happy :P_

_amon: I'm really glad the characters motivations have come across as realistic. I wanted to keep everyone's behaviours logical. Well logical according to their own personal set of morals at least. I'm trying hard to not to make Erik either too heartless or too fluffy...because he's neither...but he is dangerous. I always compare Erik to a big cat because I think that's what comes to mind most when I write him. He has got a charming side where he's like big purring kitty, but he can also rip your head off and leave you in a bloody mutilated mess. Not mention all that deliciously complex stuff in between._

_Lekta: Hehe glad you like Erik showing a softer side. I like complicated adolescent stuff that X-men Evolution and WatXM fanfiction often explores too. But I think XMFC magneto lends himself well to having a bit more emotional intelligence than the animated versions. Magneto's reaction to people and his formation of relationships seems very much governed by the circumstance in which he meets them, and I wanted to explore a universe where he meets his son after he's finished grieving for their mother but before he becomes too ruthless with his ambitions. Simpler in some ways I guess, but Erik always comes with his baggage ;) BTW please please please write more of your story when you have the time!_

* * *

><p>Erik's own lungs began to burn when they reached the halfway point. The swim was not at easy one, Erik was a strong swimmer, but he was tired, cold, injured and carrying excess weight. The flooded corridor was completely dark, which meant he had to rely on his tactile senses. He finally found the entrance to stairwell and began to swim upwards.<p>

The water ended at top of the stairs; at the entrance to the next floor. Erik and Pietro broke the surface coughing and gasping. Erik was relieved and slightly surprised to find that Pietro seemed to have suffered less from the lack of air than he had and appeared to recover faster. Charles had mentioned the boy's x-gene had granted him an increased speed and agility, he supposed an increase in lung capacity would go hand in hand with such a mutation.

Pietro stumbled out of the water and grasped Erik's arm trying to pull him out too. Erik chuckled, through coughs when the child tried and failed to pull his father's weight out the water.

" Well you do not lack ambition...I'll give you that.. " Erik commented. Pietro looked at him blankly. Erik hauled himself out of the water and ruffled the boy's wet hair affectionately. " Your vocabulary is in dire need of refinement.." As he spoke the ship creaked and then suddenly swayed sending them both off balance.

"The ship is losing it's equilibrium..." Erik said as frowning he regained his footing "...we need to leave before it capsizes... " Perhaps speed of the flooding also had something to do with vessel being de-powered, water leaking in through the pump mechanisms too...Erik thought as he looked down at Pietro, who looked tired but far happier now that he was no longer in the water, and almost exhilarated at surviving the near death experience. Pietro felt bouncier, like he had gotten a second wind. Erik theorized maybe that had something to do with ventilation system and subsequently the x-gene dampening compound being shut off ….the air felt different on this floor now..

" Can you run? " Erik asked.

Pietro's back hurt, but adrenaline and the cold water was having a numbing effect on the wounds. He could run. He always run. In fact he really really wanted to run. Pietro grinned and nodded.

Pietro started to open the door that led to the corridor. Erik snatched the hood on the back of Pietro's borrowed coat and gave him a hard jerk backwards to stop the boy walking blindly into the corridor.

"Use your senses!" He hissed. Was the child trying to get himself killed? Erik sighed "You'll turn me grey overnight..." he muttered, he could swear Charles was thinning too, perhaps all x-gene endowed children had detrimental effects on adult hair...

"Sorry.." Pietro said, however Erik's scolding had not dampened his mood "...but it's not like anyone in this joint could stop **you** from splitting.. " Pietro stated beaming at Erik with no small amount of awe, they were home free as far as he was concerned. Erik raised an eyebrow at his son.

" I think you are severely overestimating my abilities...I am not superman."

" Close enough..." Erik heard Pietro whisper under his breath, and Erik didn't think he'd ever heard a statement about himself that both endorsed and burdened him so much. He sighed again and carefully looked around the doorframe into the corridor, a few bodies lay on the ground unmoving, Erik couldn't tell if they were unconscious or dead. Some were prisoners, some were guards, but otherwise it was devoid of movement.

The boy swallowed "Should we help?" Pietro asked quietly, referring to the unmoving prisoners. Charles would probably say that he'd seen too much, but Erik didn't see the point the in deluding children. The sooner they learnt the world wasn't a fairy tale the better equipped they'd be to survive.

" No, Pietro. We have other priorities." Erik replied matter of factly , _and __**I**__ am not Florence Nightingale _he thought ..._or Charles Xavier..._ " There will always be casualties in war. "

Erik called to Pietro as he slipped through the door " Come. Stay beside me as we move, unless you wish to become one of them."

x-x-x-x-x-x

Erik was surprised to find not just one floor but all of them clear as he made he way up to the deck. Pietro kept his pace with ease while they ran, and appeared to be revealing in the chance to stretch his legs again. But the boy faltered when they had to climb a ladder to a deck hatch. He was a few rungs up when the effort of using his arm and back muscles irritated the gashes and caused a wave of burning pain which seemed to take the breath from him. Erik who was a few steps behind, caught him carefully around the waist before he fell.

" Breathe slowly" Erik said gently.

Above them Erik couldn't hear anything, neither buzz of voices, or the sound of combat. He needed to know what was happening. Erik supposed that Charles would be the best person to ask about that, and began to somewhat regret forcibly ejecting his friend from his head earlier. As frequently as he had been around telepaths Erik still knew very little about the internal mechanics of the phenomenon. When you severed a connection was it similar to telling someone not to look at you? In which case you couldn't expect them to respond when you if you started trying to communicate in sign language. Or was it more akin to telling some someone not eves drop? You might tell someone not to sit directly by the door while you whispered over the phone, but if you raised your voice and called their name, they would hear you whether they were actively listening or not wouldn't they.. Erik concentrated hard on talking to Xavier

_Charles can you hear me? _

_Erik? Are you alright?_

_Yes_

_You're not hurt? I could not sense you at all. I was about to send beast and Havoc looking for you...Is Pietro with you?_

Erik was surprised by Charles' concern and obvious relief. He had been expecting the other man to be miffed with him as he'd cut him off mid sentence the last time they talked. Apparently though Charles had not associated that action with Erik.

_Yes he's here. No, I'm not hurt, well a few scratches perhaps...nothing of note _Erik sent to Charles, who paused so long in reply that Erik wondered if the telepath could still hear him _Charles?_

_I'm here Erik, sorry...it's just your mind...it feels...odd...almost like you're still unconscious..I'll explain later...The two of you should hurry on to deck, the ship is sinking!_

Erik turned to his son who had caught his breathe and was about to attempt climbing the iron ladder again. Erik gently placed a hand on the boy's head to stop him.

"This will go better with you on my back I think." Erik bent down and let Pietro climb on to him, then ascended the ladder. As Erik emerged through the deck hatch he saw that the opposite end of the deck was considerably lower in the water and the whole ship seemed to be at a forty-five degree angle. As Erik rushed to the railings, still carrying Pietro, he saw a medium sized ferry anchored a short distance from Omega's sinking vessel. Charles was on the deck, along with Banshee and two other mutants he did not recognise, at least Erik presumed they were mutants because they were dressed in a similar combat uniforms to one that he himself had worn a year earlier. They were both male; one wore a red bandanna and had a Latin look about him*, the other was almost as muscle bound as Rossovich and looked like he hailed from somewhere close to Erik's and Pietro's ancestral homelands in Europe. They were helping the liberated mutants out of life boats. Some of the guards were there too, but they were unarmed and being marshalled by Havoc. Erik estimated there were about forty former prisoners that had survived the riot, many of them looked malnourished and shell shocked. The entire nightmarish trip had been too much of a reminder to the darker times in his youth. He itched to have this whole mission dead and buried.

"Professor! Colossus!** " Pietro shouted excitedly. Erik twitched as his eardrum protested in pain at the sudden increase in volume.

Charles and the eastern European called Colossus waved back. Pietro scrambled down from Erik's back, and whizzing around so he was now standing in front of Erik and yanking on the older man's jumper. "Erik, Erik! I know them! Quick there's a boat over there let's go!" Pietro said excitedly almost bouncing up and down as he spoke. Erik looked in the direction Pietro was gesturing, several lifeboats still hung on the side of the ship, thankfully whoever had designed Omega's mobile testing facility had taken the threat of a sinking ship seriously and provided ample numbers of the craft. The pair climbed into the boat and Erik mentally commanded the pulley to lower them into the water. He felt another wave of pain and nausea as he exercised his powers, and closed his eyes reflexively.

"Are you ok?" Pietro asked worriedly noticing the pained look on his companion's face as they reached the water.

"Fine." Erik answered shortly in a tone that forbade any follow up questions. Hating to show weakness, let alone discuss it he reached for the oars and started rowing towards the ferry. Erik felt like he wanted to grab a bucket and some pain killers then lock himself away from the world for several hours, the irony of such a thought was not lost on him.

Colossus extended one of his huge arms to help them on board as Erik pulled up beside Charles' vessel.

"Рад вас видеть снова немного один." [It's good to see you again little one.] Colossus greeted Pietro in Russian as he and Erik boarded the ferry. "Who is this you have brought with you?" Colossus asked good naturedly.

"This is Erik" Pietro answered proudly like school boy who had brought an exceptional favourite toy to show and tell " He's like us and he's **amazing**! You should see him use his powers!" Erik blinked at this. Pietro's hero worship of him was bringing up mixed; emotions guilt, pride, irritation, affection, but the strongest was the one constant that always hovered in the background of Erik's consciousness: fear. Erik had spent years avoiding getting attached people, the way wild animals avoided fire. People he got close to either left or they died, in Erik's mind that was an innumerable truth. Honestly he didn't really want to get attached to Pietro...he wanted to arrange somewhere safe for the boy to grow up. Somewhere far away from him, far away from danger. But he didn't want to be a single parent, didn't want the heavy responsibility of safeguarding another little life...he'd failed at that when Magda had been by his side and he'd had aspirations for a relatively mundane existence. God only knew how horrifically it would all end now that she was gone and his life was even more complicated and hazardous. No, the boy would have to go. Erik wasn't burying any more of his kin.

"I quite agree Pietro, Erik is amazing." Charles said wheeling up beside them "I'm very glad you're both back safely"

"You two know each other?" Pietro asked.

"We're old friends" Erik answered.

Charles' smile grew at the mention of the term "friends". He hadn't really realised just how unsure he was of where he stood with Erik before that statement. Despite himself Erik returned Charles' wide smile with a lopsided one of his own.

"Is that boat yours too Professor?" Pietro said pointing at a vessel in the distance. Erik's eyes picked out the silhouette of a US aircraft carrier in the distance. He turned to Xavier with a look of thunder on his face.

"Charles-" Erik began in a voice that was laden with quiet fury.

_Erik I can explain_. Charles spoke directly into Erik's mind. _But perhaps if we go somewhere more secluded first?I think we have some private issues to discuss as well as this pressing one? Colossus will look after Pietro for the moment._

Erik glared back, but followed as Charles to lead him into a room at deck level that looked like the captain's quarters. Once the door closed Erik rounded on the other man and exploded.

"You invited the military here? Are you mad Charles or just a fool? They'll throw all these people straight back into laboratories and jails!" Erik vaguely remembered Charles mentioning something about "turning Omega employees over to authorities" at the start of the mission, but he didn't think Charles would be stupid enough to do it in the same breathe that he liberated their people, besides Erik had been planning on a mass culling and hadn't seen Charles sentimental ideals as too much of a threat...that plan had obviously gone to hell... But he had thought Charles would at least have the sense to keep the guards and scientists as hostages, interrogating them all first, biding time. Erik would have tortured them, sold back the valuable ones and then slaughtered the rest. It was no more than they'd done his people.

"Erik we need to hand the guards and the rest of the staff over to the justice system. Omega started of as Soviet division but shortly after Rossovich took control they went rogue. They are no longer affiliated with any government, some of the staff have committed humanitarian crimes yes, but some of them have been coerced and bullied into working for Omega. They all need to be put on trial for what they have done and sentenced according to the rule of law. We have righted a terrible wrong Erik, but we cannot play judge jury and executioner for these people. We cannot dispense mob justice. We must be better than that. The world would paint us as dangerous uncontrolled threats. We must prove that we are human too. That we can be merciful. That we are civilised. That we are willing to respect laws and justice."

"I don't need to prove anything to their people Charles. My loyalty is to my own." Erik replied darkly "Why are you so forever concerned by the opinions of those insects? We are gods, you and I, and yet you would content yourself with scraps from their table!" He spat as he stormed out of the room.

* Points for guessing who red bandanna guy is.

**Otherwise known as Piotr Rasputin, to learn more just google "x-men colossus" :)


	13. An Intellectual Disagreement

Erik thundered back on deck towards the surviving Omega members who had been detained at the front of the ship, somewhat segregated from their former captives by the wheel house. The guards were kneeling on deck with their hands behind back. Their weapons were now laid out on a table near to where Havoc was standing, no other crew were visible, apparently they were all occupied with Omega's victims. Erik summoned a confiscated knife to him, Havoc looked up as the weapon moved.

"Shit." Havoc muttered on seeing the blade fly into Erik's hands. Erik was striding towards him, his eyes on the guards and he looked downright murderous. Alex Summers really didn't want get between a homicidal Erik and his prey. He could blast Erik he supposed, but he'd overheard the guards and the new kid with white hair saying pretty disturbing stuff about Erik generating lightening blasts and force fields now...as if the man hadn't been dangerous enough already without developing some new tricks...Perhaps blasting Erik would just piss him off... and **oh shit** he'd-just run out of thinking time. Erik was almost upon the guards now, Alex stepped out, blocking his path.

"You uh got plans for that?" Havoc asked him nervously gesturing at the knife.

"Move aside Alex" Erik snarled barely acknowledging the younger man.

_Erik don't do anything you'll regret!_ Charles' voice sounded directly into Erik's head, it didn't improve his mood.

_You shouldn't have involved the government Charles. Don't you remember what happened last time. _

_They tried to kill us all!_ Erik barked furiously.

_We can't hide in the shadows forever Erik, and that isn't the CIA, they're from an international agency called SHIELD they are under the jurisdiction of the UN . Not USSR or the US...I've been talking to them trying to build bridges, showing them we and people like us are interested in using our abilities in helping maintain a free world. That we want to use our gifts to serve humanity, not to dominate them as Shaw wished. That they have nothing to fear from us._

_Good grief Charles, is this your idea of some ridiculous PR campaign? "Your friendly neighbourhood mutants here to help". How can you be so blind? They are still fighting wars over colour and creed...do you really think the homo-sapiens are ready to accept someone that could wipe the memories of a squadron at blink of an eye?_

_Erik I can't let you kill them._

Erik felt several things then; the first was Charles reaching out trying to take control of his body, specifically the hand holding the knife. The second was a fury building in him at Charles, an anger that pushed back at Charles' mind with a force of it's own and that made a familiar energy flow through him. That same magnetic field again, the same one that thrust the telepath out before roared inside him again. Though this time the effort left him close to spent...and of course the damn headache and nausea flared...After a moment though it Erik regained control of his limbs he reached out for the railings to stop his legs from buckling under him.

"H-Hey man...are you ok?" Havoc asked staring at Erik. The younger mutant had been readying himself for a fight, then his would be opponent had just broken out in a sweat and almost fainted.

Erik grinned; wolfish; feral. Like he was laughing at a dark, private joke. Havoc moved back slightly, the expression had always struck him as damn creepy...

"Just peachy." Erik breathed cracking his neck, and doing nothing to dispel the aura of creepiness "Xavier and I just had a little disagreement; I won." _I really must experiment with that little trick on Emma when I get back to the brotherhood. It'll be a relief not to where that helmet all the time_...Erik thought. Feeling better, he drew himself back up to full height, looking down on Havoc tightening his grip on the knife.

"Now **stand aside **Alex, there's a good man...I don't want to hurt one of my own."

Alex didn't really want to fight Erik but..."The Professor says we've got to hand these guys over to SHIELD Magneto... "

The choice of words and Alex's general lack of enthusiasm for a confrontation encouraged Erik to try a different tack. Summers had said "The professor said"..not "I think we should". Just following orders... But for once Erik was not angered by this, perhaps one set of orders would be as good as another for the young man?

"The Professor? Ah you mean Charles..." Erik said to Havoc smoothly. "Charles never lived in the real world Alex. He was protected from it, cloistered, by wealth and privilege, he doesn't understand what people are really like...not deep down...not like **we** do." Erik knew the younger man had a chequered past, it was in prison that they had found him after all. You don't wind up in jail and keep a sanguine view of humanity, Erik reached out to their shared experience of the darker side of human nature and appealed to Alex's survival logic. He could see Alex wavering.

"They're murderers Alex, torturers, kidnappers. Why should they get a trial? Their victims didn't..." Erik whispered "It could have been any one of us that ended up in there. What would have happened if Omega had found you before we did?" Alex narrowed his eyes and looked back at the group of guards.

One of men who had fought against Erik alongside Rossovich was close enough to overhear the conversation "Hey kid, you're not really gonna leave us with that monster are you?" he asked nervously.

Erik smiled victoriously at the look on Havoc's face at the mention of the word "monster". The man had persuaded Alex more swiftly than he ever could have.

"That's what we are to you people isn't it?" Alex asked frowning deeply "Nah, don't worry...I won't leave you with a monster...but I think I'll take a walk and and leave you with this **man **here" Havoc stepped out of Erik's way. _I really must remember to talk to Summers about the brotherhood_ Erik thought as he moved past him.


	14. My Father's Eyes

Erik made a bee line for the guard who had made the derogatory comment, he grabbed the man's hair and pulled his head back viciously exposing his throat. Erik laid the knife across his neck.

"G-Get your hands off me! " The guard shouted.

"How many people begged you not to hurt them?" Erik asked coldly, pulling the blade back in preparation for the cut "How many of those requests did you ignore?"

"That's enough Magneto." Erik heard a voice growl from above him "Let him go."

Erik glanced up to see Hank McCoy perched on top the wheelhouse.

"Hank." Erik acknowledged the other mutant coolly. While he might have been able to talk some sense into Alex, Erik knew that Hank would be Xavier's man through and through, he glanced back to the guard he'd been about to slay, if he was quick he could finish the job before Charles summoned any more of his recruits. Erik glanced up again and saw a blue blur coming towards him, before he could react, Beast's full weight collided with his more slender frame, knocking him flat on his back and sending the knife flying. Beast pinned Erik to the floor and hovered over him growling deeply. Erik face remained almost impassive as he looked up at the blue mutant and giving him an evaluative look.

" Well, well someone's finally gotten in touch with their primal instincts...feels awfully therapeutic doesn't it?"

"Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, is the worst of all..." Beast quoted through a growl. Erik called to the length of anchor chain sitting on deck, while he spoke, silently looping it around Beast's leg

"Ah Aristotle one of my favourites. A visionary who was persecuted by those in power during his own life time. I can sympathise" Erik tugged on the chain and yanked Beast into the air.

Beast let out a furious roar.

"I have no desire to hurt you Hank, but I will if you don't stay out the way" Erik said in a measured tone.

"My sentiments exactly" Charles' voice sounded from his side, when Erik turned to meet the other man's eyes they were unusually hard. Then his gaze drifted Erik's left, the metal bender followed thee telepath's line of sight as Colossus and the bandanna mutant appeared from around the opposite corner of the wheelhouse. As with Rossovich, Erik could sense a remarkably high amount of metal in Colossus' that probably meant he could control the mutant in a fight. Perhaps metal related abilities were some kind of hereditary trait amongst north-eastern Europeans? Turning his attention to the bandanna mutant Erik could feel some kind of prostheses on his right leg - also metal. Erik grinned, until he saw Banshee and a woman with copper skin and braided hair appear on the bridge. No metal in either of those two Erik thought...That tipped the balance quite considerably. He knew what Banshee's powers were, but the woman was an unknown variable and that made her a risk factor.

Part of the problem was Erik didn't want to be as reckless as he had been on board Omega, he didn't particularly want kill any of the crew on board this ship and he certainly didn't want to sink it. Neither was he in the best physical state for battle, the lurch in his stomach had somewhat dulled but the headache was still there. His mouth set in to hard line, not precisely of defeat-for Erik would never admit defeat- but of resolution. Presently he was out numbered and had to concede the battle. He released Beast from the chains who crashed to the ground with a loud thud, a constant rumbling growl deep in his throat, McCoy probably had a more accute distaste of him due to there shared "interest" in Mystique. But the tension in the other mutants surrounding him seemed to dissipate slightly.

"You're making a deal with the devil Charles. "

Erik said giving his own particular brand of verbal persuasion one last stab, and gazing out to the air craft carrier.

"We have to be better than our enemies Erik"

"Do we? Sometimes it pays to be worse." Erik said quietly as he strode past Charles away from the guards. The telepath caught his arm in a surprisingly strong grip as he passed close.

"I won't let them hurt ANYONE on this ship my friend." Charles' voice was a soft whisper, but Erik found himself relieved to hear fire behind it. Charles had enough power to protect them all if chose to use it with out scruples.

"I hope you know what you're doing Charles." Erik said before reclaiming his arm and heading below deck. Just because he couldn't stop Charles' madly optimistic public relations campaign didn't mean he was going to partake in it.

Erik descended the stairs in to the hold. A number of escapees were in the galley many with blankets wrapped around them. On one of the tables a selection of sandwiches, fruit and soup were laid out, which most of the survivors were tucking into gratefully. Erik looked around the room expecting to see Pietro and felt a pang of anxiety when he couldn't spot him. Then he heard a yelp from the next room, recognising his son's voice immediately Erik rushed to next door.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but that t-shirt is going to have come off. We need to take care of your back." He heard Moira MacTaggert state as he entered the infirmary. Pietro was sitting on an exam table and was now wearing a pair of clean, dry jogging bottoms that were several inches too long and baggy for him. Moira was attempting to remove his old soaked, ripped and bloodied t-shirt and Pietro was doing his best to squirm away.

"But it hurts" he whined "I can just keep it on..."

"No you cannot." Erik chided sternly " You'll get hypothermia and your wounds will get infected."

Moira shifted nervously as Erik moved closer to them.

"I'll cut it off instead of pulling it over your head" Erik said, old parental instincts came over him then and without thinking he knelt down and started rolling up one of Pietro's too long trouser legs, so the boy wouldn't trip over it later. "It won't hurt that way" he added gently seeing the worried look on Pietro's face. Moira was looking back and forth between between man and boy with a puzzled look on her face, suddenly it changed to one of recognition. She'd guessed their connection; Erik didn't much like that. Being associated with him put the boy in danger. Erik initially thought that Pietro looked more like Magda than his own self. The boy had skin that looked like it would tan olive when exposed to more daylight, and Magda's fine bone structure. Though the white hair and shape of his brows did remind Erik of his own father's face...so perhaps the resemblance between them was more obvious to others than himself...it was bitter sweet for Erik to see his long dead father's eyes once again when he looked at his son. It bore home what he had lost, and what he would have to be prepared to loose again, _family_. But he was in no fit position to protect a child, Pietro would be safer elsewhere, clearly though his efforts to avoid getting attached to the boy were not working. Everything about Pietro was reminding him of the brief time he'd had with Anya. Erik shook his head slightly as if to clear the memories.

"Shouldn't you be heading the welcoming committee? Your friends will be here soon." He muttered to Moira.

"I don't work for the government any more Erik, if that's what you're referring to. I've decided to retrain in medicine"

"Professor Charles Xavier and Doctor Moira MacTaggert..What a delightfully upper middle class ring that has to it." Erik said condescendingly. Moira scowled but she was blushing furiously.

"If everything is fine here, I'll excuse myself. I need to check on the others." she eventually replied before bristling out of the room.

"You guys don't like each other much do you?" Pietro stated after she left.

"You're observant." Erik replied dryly but without bite, as he turned up Pietro's other trouser leg absent mindedly.

"How come? She seems pretty nice and all.."

Erik sighed. The truth was too complex and would lead to too many questions.

"It's a long story. Perhaps I'll tell it to you one day, but not now... We need to see to your back, lie down on your stomach." Pietro shifted nervously and glanced down at the exam table he was sitting on, but made no clear move to comply. Erik signed and reached out, tenderly tucking a stray white hair behind Pietro's ear, he gently rubbed the boy's neck and smiled softly down at his son "You are afraid of all the wrong things little lion...and oblivious to the things that really should scare you...I will be very gentle I promise"

Somewhat mollified Pietro lay on his stomach and Erik began cutting the sodden garment away.


	15. Old Wounds

Pietro winced as Erik gently peeled away the boy's ruined shirt. The slashes were long, but they did not look deep, Rossovich had wanted to draw out the torture and so had planned his first few blows to be light.

"Well, you don't need stitches" Erik said after examining him "...but we do need to clean the wounds before we dress them..." Erik dabbed some antiseptic on a cloth "...this will sting..." he said apologetically. Pietro inhaled sharply as the cloth touched the cuts on his back, and his small hands reflexively balled into fists when the solution burned him, but he didn't squirm.

"I'll be as quick as I can." Erik soothed.

As Erik cleared away the blood on his son's back he noticed an familiar pattern of scars on Pietro's skin. He carried some similar scars himself, they'd been made when Shaw had struck him with a leather belt hard enough to draw blood.

"Who did this?" Erik asked in almost a whisper, the dark undercurrent to his voice was enough to make Pietro turn and look up at him slightly afraid.

"Did what?" The boy asked nervously, mistakenly believing Erik's sudden anger to be directed at him.

"Your back...the older marks.."

"Oh..." Pietro replied, relaxing slightly, he shrugged. "I had them for a long time...I don't really remember...I fell or something I think..." the boy mumbled vaguely.

"Why don't I believe you?" Erik pressed narrowing his eyes. Pietro sighed and wrinkled his nose irritably, Erik had a flashback to the expression his father used to pull when he was trying to avoid discussing something with his mother.

"What's it to you anyway?" Pietro challenged, and even as he said the words he knew that taking that tone with Erik wasn't a good idea, but he didn't want to talk about the scars, and really why did Erik care? He'd rather have Erik yelling at him than explain them anyway. Predictably Erik did raise a warning eyebrow at the boy's tone, he was too long a warrior to take any form of hostility without his own fighting instincts responding in some way, but when he next spoke there was no trace of of anger in his voice.

"I'm curious." Erik said, unreadable. Realising Erik was not going to abandon his line of questioning, Pietro pushed himself up to a sitting position and dangled his legs over the side of the table . He stared at Erik intensely for a while, frowning as though he was trying to make a decision, after awhile he smirked.

"It's a _long story_... " Pietro deliberately mimicked the answer that Erik had given him when he'd enquired about his dislike of Moria earlier. "...But I'll tell you, **if **you me why you don't like Moria...**and** how you know the Professor."

"Quite the little negotiator aren't we?" Erik said with a hint of amusement "Very well, but you are going first. Turn around and I'll finish dressing your back while you talk." Pietro swivelled and Erik cut some pieces of gauze then applied them to the wounds, before starting to wrap bandages around Pietro's chest and back to hold the gauze in place. "You were saying?" Erik prompted.

Pietro shuffled uncomfortably again "I'd only been at the orphanage for a couple weeks when I met the Hudsons..." the boy began " They wanted to adopt me. They seemed nice at first...well Sarah did...her husband Jon...didn't really talk to me much...Their own kid Danny, died had in an accident six months ago, he was only three. Sarah couldn't have any more children. I reckon she picked me because I looked a bit like their own son, except their kid had normal hair." Pietro explained smoothing back a rebellious strand of his own snowy mop to illustrate. Erik didn't like these people already.

"Blonde hair, you know? ...Just like them..." Pietro continued oblivious to his father's reaction "Jon told Sarah to dye mine, he said he was going outside with some kid that looked like a little freak...That's when I realised he didn't really want me around...it was Sarah's idea to get another kid. A replacement...but Jon he wanted _his_ kid back...the real one not the fake...he couldn't stand me. I tried really really hard to be good, I really wanted to please them especially Jon ...but I still didn't speak English properly, I could understand them most of the time, but when they talked fast it was difficult. Or when I talked without thinking, sometimes the it still came out in Russian or Romani and I forgot the words in English. They really hated that, especially when I did it in front of other people. Sarah would sometimes just start crying after, I think it was because she couldn't play pretend when I spoke another language, it reminded her I wasn't Danny. Then Jon would get angry, because Sarah was upset, and he'd hit me.

One day Sarah came into my room and said that they were going to change my name to Patrick-" Because Patrick was more American and wasn't that better?" She went on about how then no one would ever know that I was any different, and I wouldn't have to keep telling people how to spell Pietro. She had a real thing about being 'different' she always said it in a whisper like she was saying a naughty word. But the thing is, I like my name...Mama gave it to me, and I didn't care about it being different. And how would Wanda or Mayra find me if I changed my name? They'd never think to look for a Patrick Hudson. So I told Sarah-tried to explain to her...but she got all silly and upset...she told me that her and Jon were my real family now and it would be best that I forget Mama, and Wanda and Mayra...I got mad and asked her why she didn't just forget about her dead kid then? That did it...she started crying again...

I was kinda dumb back then, I didn't realise that adoption meant that I'd be with them forever. I thought I was only there until Mayra and Wanda found me, and then I would be leaving anyway...I said that to Sarah, I wasn't trying to be mean, honest. Just to explain. But she didn't take it too good. She started yelling, telling me I was ungrateful, and after all stuff Jon and her had bought me too...she started asking me why I didn't love them like I should. She'd **never** yelled at me before. Jon was the yeller. He was out at the time, he'd gone hunting with his buddies, but I knew that when he got back he hit me, and if Sarah was that mad he'd be even worse. Sarah told me I had to stay in my room until he got back, but as I sat upstairs thinking about it, I started getting mad too...I didn't want to change my name...I didn't want to live with Sarah and Jon forever either...so I thought screw them, I'd just leave! I could look after myself and find Wanda and Mayra on my own...

I was just going to sneak out with a backpack...really I was...but when I crept downstairs I saw Jon's car keys lying on the table in the hallway. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I kept thinking about much easier it would be to get away in a car, and I kept imagining the look on Wanda's face when she saw me driving" Pietro smiled. " So I took them, and crept out the front door. Dumb I know. When I got in, I was too small to even see out the windscreen and use the pedals at the same time, so I ripped off the sunscreen mirror and fixed it on the side of the dashboard so I could kinda see down the street using the reflection"

"Ingenious" Erik said, he was reasonably impressed by his son's ingenuity despite his recklessness.

"Yeah I thought it was pretty smart, even though taking Jon's car had been a stupid plan. I got a block and a half, then I crashed into something. It was another car, and it had Jon and his buddies inside. Both cars were ruined and Jon was madder than I'd ever seen him before. He went nuts, pulled me out of the car and punched me straight in the face, I think I was knocked out for a little while, but next thing I remember was being curled up on the concrete and Jon hitting me with his belt. I was bleeding pretty bad. After awhile there was yelling, I think one of his buddies must have stopped him from killing me...I don't remember much after that..."

Erik had gone very still. The metal in the room was vibrating. Pietro didn't notice he was too distracted by his memories.

"I woke up in the hospital...I hate hospitals..." Pietro swallowed " Jon was there. Sat right next to my bed. He waited until the nurse left my room and then grabbed me by the throat. He told me that if anyone asked what happened to me, I had to say I got beaten up by some other boys, and if I said anything else he'd kill me. I believed him. Then Sarah came in and said she thought it was best that I went back to the orphanage, because they'd done all they could for me but I was bad inside, and she couldn't raise a thief and liar. Then they left. I never saw either of them again.

When I got I better the hospital sent me to another orphanage. The first one wasn't great, but I hated the new one, the kids were a lot meaner. It one for "troubled children". That's code for little shits that no one gives two cents about if you didn't know...nobody wants the kids in there..." Pietro trailed off as he noticed the vibrations for the first time, and glanced round and Erik who had a face like stone. "S-Sorry..." Pietro said quickly, again mistaking himself as the target of Erik's anger "Y-you don't like it when people use swears do you?...I-It just slipped out..I-"

"-I am not angry at **you** Pietro." Erik said tightly. He shut his eyes for a moment and composed himself, the metal in the room stopped humming. When he opened them again Pietro was looking up at him fearfully. Erik hurried to explain himself "I was angry at them, you should never have been treated that way."

Pietro looked down and shrugged. Erik had noticed that his son had told the tale with comparatively less emotion than when he had talked about the tragedy of his earlier life back in Russia. Pietro had appeared very detached when he talked about the Hudsons.

"It wasn't that bad really...there was one kid in the other orphanage who's Dad had burned off half his face with a blow torch. At least I never had to see the Hudsons again...and they weren't related to me...Anyway I guess they were right...I was a thief...I stole Jon's car...and I've stolen lots of things since then...Sarah was right too...in a way...I am bad...after I got to the second orphanage this other kid held my head down the toilet so I hit him with a brick...I really didn't mean to hurt him that bad...h-he was out cold for days and had to have stitches...I ran away again shortly after that...the police found me and sent me to a third home. I kept being bad though. Mama would be really cross with me if she knew half the stuff I'd done...Maybe I've always been bad...I mean it was bad of me to shoot Rossovich in the beginning wasn't it? Mama always told me that God doesn't like it when you hurt other people, no matter what they've done to you, we should just turn the other cheek...If I was a good person, I wouldn't have hurt Rossovich would I?...I should have just gone with him to Moscow...then at least Wanda, Mayra and Django would all be happy now...so sometimes I think...I deserved that beating that Jon gave me..."

Erik cupped his son's chin firmly and pushed the boy's head up to meet his eyes. "Pietro listen to me, you did not deserve that. You were surviving. You did those things because you were protecting yourself. That's not the same as hurting others because you enjoy it! Do you understand the difference?" Erik asked insistently.

Pietro shuffled and shrugged, he didn't really understand at all, but Erik obviously expected a response and he wanted to keep Erik happy so he replied "I guess..."

Erik sighed. Unfooled. He let his hand drop from the boy's chin. Pietro stared silently into space for a while before speaking again.

"Maybe **I'm** just bad luck..." The boy mumbled "...**Cursed**..." He looked back up at Erik who was frowning uncomfortably at the this new trail of thought "Romani's have word for that...do you know it?..It's **Armandino**...Mama told me a story once about a man that lost his luck because he was bad...sometimes I think I'm like him..." Pietro said quietly.

"That's superstitious nonsense Pietro!" Erik snapped. Pietro looked up at him then and shook his head, the expression in his son's face surprised him, the boy looked far older than his years. The look said that Erik didn't have the experience to understand his mistake, that he would understand in future perhaps...but for now Erik was to be pitied. Curses were real in Pietro's head and poor Erik didn't understand them. The expression was wrong for too many reasons. Then Pietro blinked and the boy just looked plain miserable.

Erik massaged his own nose with his thumb and forefinger, he didn't want Pietro believing in silly superstitions. They had ruined his relationship with Magda, and arguably cost his daughter's life. But how could he go about convincing the child otherwise? Belief could be a powerful thing. Erik took in the boy's drooping eyelids and slumped posture.

"You're tired. Let's find somewhere for you to sleep." Erik said eventually, unable to think of a better response. He spotted a clean dry sweatshirt that Moria had left on a chair that sat next to the medicine cabinet and picked it up.

"I'm not tired." Pietro said stubbornly.

"Well I am." Erik sighed and slid the sweatshirt over Pietro's head. "So you can either stay here, or come with me while I find a place to rest."

Almost before Erik finished speaking Pietro had scrambled down from the doctors table, wincing slightly at the pain in his back as the did so.

"I'll come with you." Pietro said quickly, he felt safe with Erik, safer than he'd felt in a long time. There were others on board the boat that he liked, and that had impressive powers, but being by Erik's side made him feel almost invulnerable. Erik radiated a kind of power even when he was at rest, a tank didn't have to be moving to look intimidating or dangerous, but it could make you feel safe if you were behind it rather than opposing it.

For his own part Erik was feeling decidedly inadequate. When Anya had been born he'd sworn that nothing would ever hurt her, he'd been unable to keep that promise and now another of his children had been hurt so many times already, and for all his strength he'd been powerless to stop it. Sighing, Erik grabbed some bandages, painkillers and set of dry clothes for himself as they passed through the galley, then headed off through the corridor in search of a free bed, Pietro trailing closely behind him.


	16. Chapter 16

_Long time no update...stress, life, work etc...  
><em>

_Ok so this is getting a little bit fluffy...but I'm enjoying the Erik and Pietro Hallmark family special too much to stop just yet :P._

_Thankies again to everyone that has been reviewing._

* * *

><p>After changing into dry clothing, Erik inspected several cabins, and finally discovered an empty one. Through the porthole the he could see that it had grown dark outside. Pietro wandered in after him and looked around, it was small and the bed looked basic, but also comfortable and it certainly more civilised than their previous accommodation.<p>

"Will this do for you?" Erik asked Pietro. The boy looked somewhat surprised at having his opinion asked, usually adults just directed him to where he'd be sleeping.

"Uh...sure...it's fine."

"Good. Sleep well. " Erik said nodding to Pietro as he turned leave in search of cabin of his own. He froze when he felt a familiar light tug on his sleeve, the sensation disorientated him in like it had in the back in the Omega cell.

"What is it Any-" Erik's conditioned response was already spoken aloud by the time he turned around to face to the boy "- Pietro..." Erik corrected himself, with some annoyance, it wasn't like him to slip up and use a detail from his past, it left him feeling somewhat vulnerable, weak and that made him feel irritated. Pietro was still staring. "Well, what is it?" Erik heard himself snap, and immediately regretted it, Pietro really hadn't done anything to deserve that.

Pietro shrunk back a little and let go Erik's sleeve. Honestly he'd wanted Erik to stay a little while longer, he was scared of being left by himself on another boat. Pietro had decided he hated boats almost as much as he hated hospitals. But he had no desire to tell Erik the truth, Pietro got the feeling that Erik wasn't scared of anything, and if he confessed his feelings to him, he'd just think Pietro's was fear was rather pathetic, and Erik's opinion was important to him.

"N-nothing...just uh..." Pietro tried to think of a reason to justify delaying Erik in a way that had obviously irritated him "...uh you didn't tell me why don't like Moira and how you met the Professor " The boy blurted out at last.

Erik rubbed the side of his face tiredly.

"Tomorrow. Not now."

"But that's not fair! I told you about the Hudsons straight away!" Pietro said moving to doorway and blocking Erik's path.

"First rule of negotiation: Clearly state your terms." Erik said with a smirk "Now out the way. Or do you want **me** to move you?"

Erik had said it as a jest, but Pietro had no intention of ever getting into a physical fight with the older man. The boy slumped to the side of the doorway. Glancing miserably up at the porthole before staring forlornly at the floor. Erik followed Pietro's gaze to the water.

"It won't come through the window and get you." Erik chuckled, by contrast, instead of sharing his father's amusement Pietro flinched like he'd been struck and wrapped his arms around himself, eyes still fixed on the floor. Erik frowned, when Pietro stayed like that and didn't move for several more seconds. He sighed. Erik stepped out into the corridor and tried the cabin opposite, it was empty too. He looked back at Pietro still standing rigid in the doorway then, bent down next to him.

" You have nothing to fear here. I will sleep next door, you can shout for me if anything happens. " Erik said a small smile on his face. Pietro looked up at Erik and his posture relaxed slightly, but he didn't unwrap his arms. Erik walked towards Pietro's new bed, and pulled back the blanket, he beckoned to Pietro, speaking in Romani "Come. You need to rest. I'll stay until you fall asleep" Pietro hesitated for a moment but the gypsy tongue had helped to dissolve some of his anxiety, he walked to the bed and climbed in. It had been a while since he'd slept in one. As Erik pulled the covers up around the child, he automatically began humming a familiar tune, Pietro had to think for a while before he realised why it was familiar, it was a Romani lullaby, his mother used to sing it to Wanda and himself at bedtime. He found his eye lids felt heavy and he felt them closing.

It would have come as something of a shock to almost everyone on the boat that Erik, had a knack for getting young children off to sleep. It wasn't a skill that he'd possessed before the onset of the war. He'd been the youngest male child in a decidedly middle class family, there was no requirement to take care of younger siblings or and no expectancy that he should show any real interest in baby cousins or toddlers. That was domain of his mother and older sister. So when after the Romani caravan took in him and Magda after they'd fled the camp, it had been something of an adjustment to be constantly surrounded by a litter of young children. The Romani's were strict Catholics and as rule had large families, and at least one woman in the caravan had been pregnant at any given time. Erik had found it even odder that all the children seemed fascinated with him particularly, even though he had done nothing to encourage it, quite the opposite actually. Looking back on it he supposed it was because he was an outsider and a novelty. A role that he couldn't ever seem to shift out of. They'd ask him to tell them stories, to read to them, to teach them German words.

Very few people in the caravan were literate and even Erik's elementary schooling bought him a kind of status. Which was well, because in the beginning he wasn't particularly good at doing what the Romani's termed "men's work". The men in Erik's family had been scholars, bankers, jewellers, merchants and occasionally soldiers. He had not learnt carpentry, hunting or horsemanship at a young age as the gypsy boys had, and was so woefully inadequate at these skills in the beginning, that much to his chagrin they had laughed and reassigned him to helping the women with menial tasks. Before the death camp Erik might have been more outraged, even insulted, but now he had a new perspective on life, and he certainly didn't mind spending most of his waking hours by Magda's side. She had watched him one day after they'd been travelling with Caravan for a year. He was helping a woman rock a child to sleep. " You will make a fine father one day" the woman had complimented him laughing. Later when Anya had been born, he had more often than not been the one to settle her singing that same tune "Your daughter wants her father" Magda would say when Anya refused to settle.

"_All these years together and I still cannot learn your trick!" Magda had declared as looked at her daughter resting peacefully in her father's arms._

"_It's just the rhythm" Erik had replied. "The brain goes to sleep if there's a predictable pattern..."_

"_You always have to reduce everything to your science" Magda had chided him, rolling her eyes before kissing him "It's you. You make her feel safe."_

Back in the present Pietro's breathing had deepened, the boy was asleep. A ghost of a smile appeared on Erik's lips before he left for his own cabin.

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><p>Erik had been dozing for awhile when he was woken by the sound of a speed boat in the distance, presumably it was Charles and the others returning from the meeting on the aircraft carrier. He got up and headed upstairs to the deck.<p>

Erik arrived to find the professor being helped out of the speedboat and on board the ferry by Beast and Moira. The deck was now empty except for the four of them. The aircraft carrier could no longer be seen on the horizon but it was dark and the ferry's engine's were running now too. Which meant that they'd probably been moving away from Omega's ship wreck and their initial position for awhile.

"Gotten rid of our friends I see" Erik said sarcastically as he approached the others.  
>"What are your plans for everyone else?"<p>

" We'll take everyone back to the Xavier institute first. Then we'll do our best to get any mutants who don't want to stay as close to home as possible... Or we'll help them relocate somewhere they feel safe "

"They'd all feel safer if they knew their captors were no longer a threat." Erik stated.

Charles sighed, he was not keen to get back re-enter this argument. "I've already read their minds Erik, I know all Omega's secrets. There was no need for an interrogation. There would have been nothing practical to gain from torturing or killing our captives. By turning them over we build bridges and establish a reputation with S.H.E.I.L.D. We will need allies in the future Erik, it will not pay to make only enemies." Charles finished noting that Erik was looking at him with a cold distaste. The professor may no longer be able to read Erik's thoughts, but he didn't need any psychic talent to know that Erik, at best, thought him intolerably weak and at worse probably a threat to "Homo-superior's"cause. Erik wanted satisfaction, blood for blood, a life for life. However since experiencing that coin slicing through his brain...or rather...through Shaw's brain-the two hadn't been mutually exclusive at the time-Charles Xavier had not been able to contemplate killing another person. Of course he wasn't deluding himself that Shaw even resembled a decent human being, what the man had done-what he intended to do- was vile...but Charles unlike Erik, could not dehumanise his enemies, no matter how awful their deeds were, at birth and death all men felt the same. All human beings had the potential to be either angels or demons, frequently a person was both, and perhaps because of his gift, Charles could never see anyone as being beyond redemption. The potential for change was always there. Present in every mind.

One thing Charles knew he could not do was visit the terrible sensation he had felt while trapped inside of Shaw's dying mind on anyone else. Humans aren't supposed to experience the gates of death then go back to walking among the living. Not sanely anyway. The ordeal had affected Charles deeply; stolen something bright and playful inside him and left a heavy weight in it's place. He still had nightmares about it.

Truth be told, Charles envied Erik's seemly effortless ability to shut off his feelings in the moment of combat – yes, the rage, the fear, the passion-everything that made Erik, Erik came back when the fight was done of course. But while Erik fought, hunted or killed, he was single minded and clear, not pressed upon by the chaos of multiple minds crying out in pain, feeling his enemies' anguish as if it were his own. Even if his spinal cord had not been severed that day on the beach, Charles doubted that in the long term, he could ever have been anything other than a far side general. He was not made for the thick of battle like Erik was. The telepath sighed, and rubbed the back of his head. Erik would not understand any of this. So Charles did not try to explain, he thought it best instead to try for a change of subject.

"How is Pietro?" Charles asked.

"Asleep." Or at least Erik assumed he still was, he should probably go check on the boy. There was nothing to be done about the guards now anyway. At least Charles the others were back safely. Without another word he turned his back on the three of them and returned below deck.

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><p>* Random triva: According to the comics Erik is like suuuuuper scary intelligent. Seriously the marvel wiki rates him as an extraordinary genius. Now this hasn't really been explored in the movies, but I do feel like it should get a mention in this fic, because smart men are ultra sexy. It makes sense that Charle's BFF would have an astoundingly high IQ too. The thing is, I can imagine that due to the interruptions in Erik's education he's never been given a formal assessment and it might account for some of his personality defects, like his arrogance and impatience with people.<p> 


	17. Nightmares

Erik opened Pietro's cabin door quietly and found the boy tossing and turning in the grips of a nightmare. He shook the boy's shoulder gently to wake him.

"Pietro...Pietro wake up...you're dreaming..."

Pietro woke with a start; adrenaline coursing through his system. He surprised Erik by bolting out of the bed in fear, colliding with the older man and ending up in a heap on the floor. Pietro scrambled up, his mind still trapped in the nightmare and not fully comprehending his surroundings. He was intent on continuing to run, but his father caught him by the arms before he could dash across dark room and do himself further injury. Pietro tried violently to pull away, as if he didn't recognise Erik.

"Pietro **stop** fighting me!" Erik hissed, giving him a rough shake that hoped would bring the boy back to reality. Given both their histories, and the manner in which they'd met, Erik was becoming cautious of manhandling his son too causally, but right now he needed Pietro to stop struggling before he further aggravated the wounds on his back, and giving him a jolt seemed like the lesser of two evils.

Sure enough Pietro stopped struggling and blinked looking around the room, seeming surprised to find himself out of bed with Erik kneeling in front of him gripping his arms. Satisfied that Pietro wasn't going to put himself in jeopardy, Erik relaxed his grip, resting his hands gently on the boy's upper arms instead, and used his powers to flick the light on. Pietro squinted at the sudden brightness, but it speeded his orientation. Finally fully recognising where he was he swallowed and blinked at Erik. Tears were in his eyes.

"It was just a dream." Erik said soothingly "Whatever scared you...it wasn't real..."

At this, Pietro burst into choked sobs, hiding his face in his hands and missing Erik's aghast look. Instinctively Erik wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling Pietro into his chest, carefully avoiding the injuries on his back. Though this action is only seemed to make the boy bury his head in Erik's chest and cry harder.

More concerned now, Erik sat down on the floor and pulled Pietro into his lap. Ducking his head slightly so he could see his son's face.

"What are all these tears little lion? I know you are braver than this... You're a warrior, no? And warriors don't cry now do they?" Charles and Raven would call that sentiment old fashioned, but Erik's father would have said the same thing to him. Weakness was always exploited by predators, best to learn early to hide it. Erik fished in his pocket for his handkerchief and offered it to Pietro. Who gulped and took it, trying his best to hold back the tears.

"N-no warriors don't cry...**I** don't cry...I don't cry..." Pietro repeated like a mantra "B-but ….but it was real...I was dreaming about Wanda..." Pietro sniffed wiping his eyes with the handkerchief.

"About what happened last time you were on a boat...?" Erik deducted. Pietro nodded looking down.

Erik gently stroked the boy's hair while he quietened, unsure of how to comfort him further, he was in unfamiliar territory now. Anya's nightmares were based on shadows on the wall, or the monsters from fairy tales, not real horrors from the past.

Pietro wiped his face again, the vividness of the nightmare was fading, leaving him feeling somewhat embarrassed, Erik must think he was a real sissy. This was the second time he'd burst into tears in front of the man. Pietro made a concerted effort to compose himself, mentally shoving down the sad ache in his throat that threatened to erupt behind his eyes as far into the pit of stomach as he could. The trick always made him feel sightly ill but diminished the urge to cry. Suddenly a possibility struck him that made him turn red with shame. Had he been crying out like a baby in his sleep? Was that why Erik had come back into the cabin?

Erik noted the sudden tension in his son.

"Something else the matter?"

Pietro shook his head quickly, getting up from the floor and moving away from Erik. The boy instantly missed the tactile comfort, he hadn't been in held in anyone's arms for a while, he'd missed it, but tough guys didn't cry and they didn't do cuddles, everyone knew that... He forced himself to meet Erik's concerned eyes.

"I'm ok now...honest...I just got a bit...confused..did I wake you up?" Pietro asked, frowning. Erik thought that this was an odd reaction from the child, that the last thing Pietro should be concerned about was disturbing Erik's sleep. Anya had been five when she'd died, and during her short life, she'd certainly never have worried about her needs disturbing Erik or Magda's, especially if she'd been as terrified as Pietro was a moment ago. Of course during her lifetime Erik had tried his hardest to shield her from harm and keep her safe and happy, Pietro's experiences had obviously been far more brutal, he was looking at Erik as if he expected to be scolded.

"No, I came to check on you. I found you restless..." Erik replied. Pietro visibly relaxed, but still looked a bit surprised. Erik examined the boy more closely, he looked more flushed and his brow glistened with sweat. Erik placed a hand on Pietro's forehead.

"You feel slightly feverish..." Erik muttered.

Pietro shivered."But I wasn't going to do anything bad...I promise...I was being good." Pietro said, believing Erik's reason for checking on him was to make sure he was behaving in the cabin and not running riot.

It took Eric a while to process the logic behind Pietro's sentence.

"You misunderstand...I wasn't accusing you of anything. I was just...concerned..." Erik murmured, tilting Pietro's head back so he could check his pupils. They looked normal, Erik briefly wondered weather he should search the sick bay for something that would help Pietro sleep, but decided against it, God only knew what the damn scientists might have given the poor child in the laboratories. Until a toxicology test could be done at the Xavier's he wasn't risking giving Pietro any more drugs. His son's temperature didn't seem high enough to be serious, but Erik thought it best not to leave him alone.

"Get back in bed." Erik ordered.

"I don't feel tired anymore..." Pietro said defiantly despite the fact he was still exhausted. After the nightmare he was even more reluctant to return to bed.

"Are you always so stubborn?" Erik sighed irritably. Before the boy could react he bent down grabbed Pietro around the waist, lifted him up, then unceremoniously tossed him face down on the bed.

"Go to sleep." Erik said flatly as Pietro pushed himself up on his elbows, removing a mouth full of pillow. The glare he had prepared for Erik turned to a look of confusion as he saw the man stretching himself out on the carpeted floor next to the bunk.

"What are you doing?" Pietro asked.

"Trying to sleep." Erik muttered closing his eyes.

"On the floor? In here?"

"So it would appear." Erik replied dryly, his eyes still closed.

"Why?"

"Your temperature is elevated...maybe not a full fever...but I have to keep an eye on you. Make sure you don't get any worse."

"You're staying here the whole night?"

"What's left of it."

At this Pietro's face broke out into a smile.

"Are you comfy down there? Do you want my blanket?" Pietro asked like an excited host. Erik opened his eyes slightly, rolling them.

"You are **unwell** boy, you have a temperature. Do think catching a chill will make you better or worse? "

"Worse..." Pietro admitted slightly deflated. "I just wondered is all.." Erik sighed and closed his eyes again.

"Do not trouble yourself with me." Erik said in slightly softer tone. "I can fall asleep almost anywhere. It's a useful skill, one you might attempt cultivating. Why don't you practice it with me now?"

"Huh?"

"Go to sleep Pietro."


	18. New Dawn

_As always thanks for the reviews guys :)_

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><p>Pietro floated lazily back to consciousness. The feeling of waking up in a bed, between clean sheets felt like a luxury, Pietro was momentarily afraid to open his eyes. What if the escape had been a dream?...But yesterday had to be real...because even with his eyes closed he sensed this room was filled with more light than the cell...<p>

Stealing himself against fear of reawakening in the prison, Pietro finally opened his eyes, and was relieved to find himself in a bright sun lit cabin. Pietro smiled to himself, and rolled over on to his back; a burning sensation immediately reminded him of his wounds. Pietro let out a hiss and sat bolt upright.

"I was beginning to think you'd lapsed into a coma." Pietro heard a languid voice laced with an unapologetic superiority state. Erik was sitting at the foot of Pietro's bunk, his back lent against the cabin wall and several books scattered around him. The man was scribbling something in a leather bound note book, to Pietro it looked like some kind of scientific diagram, the boy wanted to ask what it was, but was wary of interrupting Erik further as he hadn't looked up from his work since he first spoke.

Instead Pietro glanced around the cabin, realising for the first time that it was not the one he had fallen asleep in. This cabin was bigger and there were two bunks in here, the other was above him.

"Your temperature is gone. " Erik informed Pietro his attention still focused on his diagram.

"How'd I get here?" Pietro ventured, deciding Erik did not seem too adverse to conversation.

"I carried you in here yesterday, about midday I believe. I sleep well enough on the floor if there's no other option, but it's not my first choice. Especially since you didn't show much willingness to return to waking reality..." Erik replied.

"Hey some of us sleep more than two hours a night..." Pietro yawned wondering when Erik had gotten up, though he was secretly pleased that the older mutant had stayed with him. Then something dawned on Pietro, the boy frowned "Hey...what do you mean **midday**?".

"Exactly what I said. You've been asleep for two days."

"No shi-" Pietro began, but stopped as Erik raised an eyebrow in warning, looking in his direction for the first time. " er...I mean...uh...**way**...no way..." The boy finished quickly correcting his language. "You've been here all that time? "

Erik had. He'd spent the last couple days driving himself mad with guilt and worry. Which had worsened quite severely when Pietro had not awoken naturally on the following day. He didn't want to wake Pietro if his body needed sleep, but he was badly tempted to do so, just to reassure himself the boy was alright. Usually decisive by character, Erik had quite unsettlingly found himself unable to make a simple judgement and settled on watching his son like a hawk to make sure the child didn't suddenly stop breathing.

Noting his absence in the galley, Charles had eventually come to find his friend, bringing with him food and the pretty copper skinned mutant with braids that Erik had first seen on the bridge. It transpired that her name was Dr Cecilia Reyes* and she had taken leave from her full time job as a paediatric surgeon to help Charles with the mission. Dr Reyes had reassured Erik that Pietro was indeed just in a deep sleep and not in any immanent biological danger. After which Erik had allowed himself a few distractions like napping, eating, reading and sketching out design modifications for the Brotherhood's bases, but couldn't contemplate moving more than a few feet from Pietro. When Pietro had casually awoken a few minutes ago, Erik had felt a wave of relief flow over him, but also an annoyance at himself for blowing everything out of proportion. The boy was a survivor that much was clear; he needed to stop worrying. Fatherhood was playing havoc with his emotions, turning him into a nervous wrek, but dammit he could at least outwardly **pretend** to be his old indifferent nonchalant self when others were watching. Maybe if he did, his internal emotions would eventually follow suit...Erik knew his act hadn't fooled Charles, who, some hours ago taken to mentally nagging him to reconsider his decision about Pietro.

_Of course the boy is welcome to stay at the Xavier mansion without you, but don't you think he'd miss you terribly? Look how he admires you already! And it's plain you care about him Erik- don't deny it!...Infact why don't you and Raven forget his business with..with..**the others**... and just move back in...Raven could have her old room back...and you could have the guest house..._

Charles had continued in this vein for quite a while...Erik had remained silent and refused to discuss the matter by psychic means or otherwise. He was refusing to think about Charles' suggestion as a viable possibility **period**. The fact that Charles couldn't even mention the Brotherhood by name pretty much cemented the fact that they were still very much on separate pages.

Pietro was looking at Erik expectantly awaiting an answer. Erik did not really want to give one, he heard Pietro's stomach growl, and silently thanked the heavens for a distraction.

"You should eat something." Erik stated reaching into a cooler box that sat near his feet and retrieving a chicken roll wrapped in cellophane. He tossed at Pietro who caught it and started tearing away the wrapper with his teeth, almost resembling a wild animal. Erik understood the reaction. When a person had been routinely deprived of food, the urge was to consume any scraps he might find as quickly as possible before someone stole it was overwhelming.

"Slow down..." Erik said reaching over to help the boy take off the wrapper, fearing the he was going to choke on the plastic. Pietro jerked away from him, clutching the food to his chest. An instinctual response.

"I'm not going to take away something I've just given you..." Erik said gently. "But I am going to enforce some basic etiquette and common sense. I know your mother must have taught you better manners than this. Let me take off the wrapper first" Pietro hesitated but after a moment relaxed his grip on the roll and let Erik unwrapped it. Pietro rapidly devoured the food.

After three more rolls, an apple, a bag and a half of chocolate cookies and half a bag of potato chips Pietro's hunger was finally sated.

"I don't feel so good..." Pietro announced and clutching his stomach.

Erik sighed and took the cookie bag away from the boy, he wasn't in the mood to clean up regurgitated food. He'd thought of interrupting Pietro's feeding frenzy, but he didn't want Pietro to feel as if his food was still being rationed. Especially when he was already so thin, it was important for Pietro to understand he could eat as much as he needed. Hopefully feeling sick now would help him respect his stomach capacity in future. Erik eyed Pietro's hands which had become a sticky chocolatey mess and tossed a napkin in the boy's direction.

"Clean yourself up."

The older man watched Pietro as he wiped the chocolate from his sticky fingers. His eyes settling on the boy's hair. This was the healthiest that Erik had seen him since they'd met, but the child still looked dishevelled and scruffy, his hair stuck up at odd angles and was tangled. Pietro became aware of Erik's eyes on him. He stopped cleaning his fingers and looked back at Erik.

"...What...?"

"That hair of yours..."

Pietro self-consciously ran his fingers through it. Making it even messier. He already knew his white hair made him look like a freak, did Erik really need to remind him of it? Erik gestured with his hand and a metal comb floated from his open suitcase into his palm.

"...It needs some attention..." Erik moved closer to Pietro and began to gently detangle his son's hair. Pietro usually hated having his hair brushed, but Erik wasn't tugging at the roots like most adults did when they tried untangle matted knots. He was working patiently through them, so Pietro couldn't really protest too much.

"Well...you look a _little_ more civillized I suppose" Erik said finally with a smirk as he finished smoothing down Pietro's hair. Two strands at the front had refused to lie flat, but the rest of his mane had been cooperative.

"Together you and sister must make a distinctive pair," Erik said imagining Wanda to look like a version of Anya with Pietro's hair and eyes.

"Distinctive?"

"Unique, special, noticeable...with white hair I imagine you'd standout" That should certainly make his daughter easier to find..

Pietro shook his head frowning.

"Wanda looks normal. A lot like our mother...I guess maybe...I look like our father..."

"More like your grandfather..." Erik said without thinking. Pietro looked at him sharply-he'd thought that Erik was making fun of him, comparing him to an old man, as other children had, making a jibe at his expense. Hurt , anger and hostility burned in the boy's eyes. Erik didn't understand the look initially, but then quickly remembered Pietro's hair was a sensitive subject for him. Erik's son looked like he wanted to punch him, but common sense was holding the boy back.

"Whatever..." Pietro smouldered looking down.

Erik had meant the statement at face value, but could hardly admit that...he hurried to cover the slip "That is, perhaps you look more like one of your grandparents...you know quite a lot of people think white hair is distinguished - " Pietro wrinkled his nose scowling at his blanket "- it means sophisticated, important-"

"-I _know_ what it means. I'm not _that_ stupid!" Pietro snapped. " I know what I look like...why does everyone have to keep reminding me..." he muttered miserably.

Erik sighed and ran a hand through his own hair. Well that hadn't been a disastrous attempt at bonding(!). But wait. Why was he trying to bond with Pietro again? He wasn't. He _shouldn't_ be. The rule was _not_ form any more attachments. Erik stood, the boy was no longer in any physical danger he should limit his time around his son – take a walk-

"Sorry." Pietro said, the word was so rushed and soft, that had it not been for Erik's keen senses he would not have heard it.

Erik looked down at his son, eyes that had burned with anger before now looked anxious. Was the child upset because at the thought of being left alone? Or because he was afraid of...being punished for talking back?

Erik sighed again and waved away Pietro's apology. " As long you watch your language, I have no objection to a show of spirit every now and then..." Erik's demeanour softened. He reached over and ruffled Pietro's hair "It is good to have your own opinion on things, but you need to know that there is nothing wrong with the way you look."

"Yeah...tell that to the other kids..." Pietro replied, but he gave Erik a small lop sided smile of relief as his hair was tousled. Erik tutted in mock disapproval and leaned in closer to his son.

"Do lions concern themselves with the thoughts of insects? " Erik asked with a raised eyebrow. Pietro's smile grew slightly.

"...No...well...not most of the time..anyway..."

"Not _at all._" Erik corrected.

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><p>*She's a cannon character :) Google if you want to know more.<p> 


	19. Chapter 19

_This has temporarily disintegrated into fluff – I make no apology ;) We return to a harsher reality near the end of this chapter._

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><p>"What were you drawing?" Pietro asked. Erik handed him the sketchbook. Pietro flicked through the diagrams. Much of them he didn't understand, but he stopped on a page with body armour designs.<p>

"This looks sharp..." Pietro grinned running his fingers over the sketch "But the helmet is corny.." the boy commented wrinkling his nose

"Really...?" Erik raised an eyebrow smiling, his eyes seemed to twinkle, but there was something dangerous in them. "I've met people who think it's to _die_ for. " There was something about the way Erik said "die" that made Pietro suppress a shudder. How could the man make him feel so at ease one moment and so wary the next? Pietro made a mental note never to insult Erik's dress sense ever again.

"W-why's that? " Pietro asked. Not entirely sure that he should be querying, but he couldn't help himself.

Erik called to the lock on a small leather suitcase containing his belongings that leant against the opposite wall of the cabin. The latches flew open and Magneto's helmet floated out towards them, stopping in mid air between between the pair, slowly rotating.

"I don't enjoy company in my head. This helmet keeps other people out of my mind...not all telepaths...are...what is the term I'm looking for...?" Erik mused; Polite; Gracious; Empathic; Benign, Honourable?

"_Nice_. " Pietro provided. "They're not all as...nice as the Professor..." The older man looked at him questioningly.

"Some of them take stuff out your head without asking. And some of them force stuff in... make you see things that aren't real, you know, bad things..."

"You've encountered other telepaths besides Charles?" Erik asked his curiosity spiked.

Pietro shrugged. "Yeah...back _there_."

"Mutants working with Omega? Against their own kind?"

"I dunno...maybe...or maybe they were just doing what they were told by the guards and the guys in white coats.." Pietro reached out to touch the levitating helmet. Running his finger down a metal groove "But I hated it...I don't like people my head either."

"You would recognise the telepaths? If you saw them again?"

"No. I never saw what they looked like. During the...tests_..._they stayed in a different room. I could only feel them.." The boy semi consciously clutched the hair on the side of his head.

Erik felt sickened by this new piece of knowledge. Anger rising again from the pit of his stomach. But this time he was unsure where to focus it. At Omega certainly. But did he have a right to be angry at the mutants too? Then course there was himself- he should have been a better protector -

"Erik..." Pietro was staring at him pale and panic stricken. Erik looked back at the boy confused by his mortified expression.

"What's the matter Pietro?"

"You're bleeding!"

Erik felt something wet trickle over his lip and brought his hand up to his nose to inspect it. It came away red.

"It's nothing, just a nose bleed." Erik said calmly wiping away some of the blood with his sleeve. It was odd though, he hadn't received any blow to trigger it...

"But...there's so much blood..." Pietro stuttered looking horrified.

There _was_ a lot of blood, and flow seemed to be increasing. Erik stood up intending to locate a bathroom and wash his face, but his plans were interrupted by a sudden throbbing in his skull. Feeling light headed he griped the bunk for support

"Erik!" Pietro cried jumping out of bed and running towards him, as the older mutant collapsed on the floor; crimson liquid continuing to pour over his face.


	20. Pressure

When Erik opened his eyes he found himself looking into the worried face of Charles Xaiver. Erik pushed himself up on to his elbows discovering he was no longer in the cabin, but lying in large bed situated a room with heigh ceilings and impressive gothic windows which looked out on to rolling green acres. They were back at the Xavier mansion.

"Don't get up too quickly Erik. " Charles advised gently.

"I'm fine Charles..." Erik said gruffly, ignoring the telepath and sitting all the way up."I just have a God awful headache.." Erik massaged his forehead. The pain was easing; settling into a dull throb..

"Fine is something you are certainly not. You have severe hypertension, the pressure caused a major cranial artery to haemorrhage." Charles explained. " You gave Pietro quite a scare. He ran out of the cabin like bolt of lightening, shouting that you were bleeding. A good thing I was on my way to check in on you two."

Erik took this information in with his usual outward stoicism. He didn't think he would be lucky enough to dodge the side effects of Goldberg's experimental drug cocktail.

"How long have I been out?" Erik asked.

"Roughly thirty-six hours. Cecilia - Dr Reyes managed to stabilize you." Charles answered.

Erik nodded slowly, taking this in. "She has my gratitude." He replied.

"Dr Reyes and Moira will want to do another brain scan now you're awake" Charles turned away from his friend momentarily to press the intercom on the wall. Over the years he'd learnt that while telepathy was a convenient way to contact someone, the recipient frequently found it intrusive. So on the whole, Charles reserved his talent for emergencies and discrete conversations. "I'll call them in-Erik what are you doing?"

Erik had thrown back the covers risen from the bed "Looking for my clothes." Erik grunted, not the least bit self conscious about wandering around the room in his snug fitting boxers. It struck Charles then, that Erik was never self conscious about anything. Period. If he'd have been wearing a potato sack or even been naked Erik would have carried himself with that same self possessed air of superiority. It wasn't an act either, it was Erik's core.

"Erik you had major internal bleeding! Your blood pressure is through the roof- you have severe hypertension" Charles pleaded "You're in no fit state to be going anywhere. You have to let Dr Reyes and Moira _examine_ you-"

"-No thankyou Charles. I've had enough of being prodded and poked by doctors for two lifetimes." Erik said shortly. He finally spotted his suitcase sitting on top of a cabinet and called to the metal in it with his powers. Charles saw his movement and panicked.

"Erik don't-!"

The warning came too late. The pain in his skull floored Erik. He ended up on all fours, shivering in a cold sweat and hacking blood up on to Charles' immaculate (probably antique) carpet. As the coughing fit subsided Erik felt Charles' cool hand on his shoulder, steadying him.

"Don't call them." Erik said roughly, Charles looked at him, brow knotted in confusion, don't call who? "I don't want any Doctors."

"Erik..."

"I said _no doctors_ Charles." Erik growled, through gritted teeth. "..and there's no need to explain...I've figured it out...Using my powers aggravates the hypertension. Every time I exercise them I'm at risk of bursting a blood vessel. That's it isn't it? Except the next time, one might be deep in my brain..."

"Yes..." Charles sighed. "At least it's what Dr Reyes and I were theorizing..." He continued sympathetically, wheeling himself over to Erik. Charles wrapped a bathrobe around his friend's shoulders hoping to stop the shivering. He half expected Erik to shrug it off and claim he didn't need warmth any more than he needed doctors, but the other man accepted it with a gruff "Thanks"

Erik stood up slowly and pulled the robe on, knotting it about his waist. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

"How many people know about my condition and your...theory?" He asked.

"Well everyone on board the ship knows you collapsed, but only Dr Reyes and I have discussed the cause." Charles answered.

"Then it stops at the three of us. No one else is to know." Erik said fixing Charles with a piercing glare. "Not your X-men, not your girlfriend, not Pietro. _No one_. Do you understand?" Erik found weakness within himself intolerable. The only thing worse was having others know about it. Not being able to use his powers freely would be a major vulnerability. Charles gave him a measured look, then a slow nod.

"Alright Erik...If that's what you'd prefer...But...if you don't want Moira or Cecilia to examine you, I really think you should at least get a brain scan done elsewhere...I suspect that psychic shield you're generating is at the root of the hypertension. It's causing an added strain on your heart..." Charles stated. Erik gave him a wry grin.

"What's the matter Charles? Do you miss having a little window into my head? Is it frustrating for you being like the rest of us? Having to put up with a little mystery?"

_Actually my friend it's rather refreshing. True friendship is about trust and sharing, and I don't have to worry about __**overhearing**__ something I'm not supposed to when you're mentally shouting. But that shield __**is**__ taxing your body. I think it would be wise to lower it for a while and let yourself relax and heal. If you're really __**that**__ paranoid about me you can always put your helmet back on..._ Charles sent psychically as if trying to emphasize a point.

_Well you're not the only one I'm worried about, and I'm clearly not trying to block you now..._ Erik replied. _But if you keep nagging me I might change my mind..._

_You mean you're not consciously trying ...? _Charles frowned. _Erik I still feel the shield in your mind. Are you saying you can't turn it off?_

Erik looked surprised.

_But I can hear your voice in my mind, and you can hear my thoughts._ Erik insisted.

_Because you're **choosing **to listen to me, focusing on me, tuning into my frequency I suppose, and you're **projecting** your thoughts to me. But I'm not getting any other reading from you Erik...no emotions...no flashes of images...just words. I usually pick up at least some other psychic residue even if I try to ignore it. It's almost like catching a sent of someone's perfume or feeling someone's body heat when they step close. But at the moment...with you there's nothing...it's almost like a void..._

Erik frowned. Perhaps he could turn the shield up or down but not "off" completely?

"I'm sure my body will adjust...given time..." Erik stated, trying to convince himself as much as Charles.

"That's true it might. Cecilia seems to think so at any rate. I tend to agree with her, but the real question is how long will the adjustment period take...that is how long you should abstain from using your powers... " Charles mused. "If you'd let her take some samples she might be able to give you a more accurate prediction."

Erik wasn't overly keen on doctors, but Cecilia Reyes did seem genuine in her desire to help others... "I'll consider it." Erik conceded after a moment in silence. Charles smiled, glad his friend was seeing sense, encouraged by this Charles decided to bring up another tricky subject.

"Pietro's been very worried about you, he's been hovering outside your door since we got back. Dr Reyes thought it was best if you were left to rest undisturbed, but as you're awake, shall I send him in?"

"No." Erik rubbing his face tiredly.

"But Erik..."

"Not now Charles...I'll deal with the boy tomorrow. I'd like to rest now." Erik said dismissively.


	21. Parental obligations

_Thanks for the reviews guys. Special shoutout to knightrunner and zukofan for their consistent feedback :)_

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><p>"I said I'M TIRED Charles." Erik repeated when the other man made no motion to remove himself from the room. Charles had remained silent for the last few minutes giving him a steady appraising look which reeked of judgement.<p>

"Charles there's no point in encouraging the boy to attach himself to me. I'm leaving tomorrow night, after I've spoken with Reyes." Erik snapped.

" So you're going to tell him you're his father and then abandon him in the same breath?" Charles summed up disapprovingly.

"No. I won't be telling Pietro I'm related to him, and neither will you."

"You're being unreasonably cold, I've seen you with him...I don't believe that this is what you really want. Don't you think he has a right to know who you really are? Who he really is?"

"It won't make any practical difference to the child Charles. If you choose to share the information, it will only make him miserable and endanger him"

"Why do you think that Erik? Experience has given Pietro a great deal of caution for his years. If you relay to him the importance of keeping your connection a secret then I'm positive that he'll understand. And far from making him miserable, I suspect he will be happy to learn he has another living relative. "

"Charles, I **know** he is far better away from me, but if having him at your school is going to torture your god damn ideals then I'll find somewhere else for him!"

"Erik I've told you already he is more than welcome here, but I really believe-"

"-Let it go Charles! No good will come of him knowing that I'm his father! Not now at any rate...He will simply be more upset when I have to leave!" Erik replied irritably, how could he get this through Charles' dense skull? "I **cannot** keep him with me **and **lead the Brotherhood. It is too dangerous. When he much older perhaps...and stronger...strong enough to fight beside me...I will tell him then..."

"Is this "Brotherhood" of yours really more important than your son?" -Charles asked narrowing his eyes. Erik exploded.

"It's **because** of my son – because of my **children**- **all** mutant children- that the Brotherhood's importance has amplified. People are doing experiments on our people Charles! They experimented on my CHILD! And **you** let them go! Our people...my son...my daughter...they need someone to make the world safe for them...to ensure they grow up free...Someone who's willing to protect them by any means necessary...means that you would shy away from...Means that you can't stomach..." Magneto shot back.

"Means that involve bloodshed? Isn't there any room in your plans for freedom and rights reached by peace and negotiation? Charles asked

"Si vis pacem, para bellum[If you wish for peace, you must prepare for war]"

Charles knew he shouldn't be arguing with Erik while his condition was still critical, but his friend's stance was striking a nerve. Erik's willingness to stash Pietro away because he was an inconvenient encumbrance to his lifestyle had parallels with Charles' own childhood.

Brian Xavier-Charles' father-had died when he was very young. Charles' mother was the type of woman that followed the status quo with the same dedication that some people followed religion. She never questioned anything the mainstream told her, and going against conservative opinion was unthinkable. Charles fancied that if Good House Keeping magazine had declared that white pearl necklaces were out and wearing rabbit entrails around your neck was in, his mother would have followed suit, one _had_ to keep up appearances of course.

Sharon Xavier had also been long ago convinced that a woman was nothing without a husband. Which in truth, was hardly surprising for someone raised in the high class world of débutantes, that had been programmed to believe their entire mission in life was to marry well, then dedicate themselves to baring a progeny and pleasing their spouse. The problem with this form of education was that it also bred women that were discouraged from critical thinking, women who by default deferred to their husband at the cost of forming their own opinion. Women who, in a sense, mentally remained children, forever relying on another to tell them what to do when a situation became difficult or distressing. In short women who could side step moral responsibilities with terrifying ease because they could say that they were "just following orders".

For Charles' mother, this became disastrous when the orders no longer came from an empathetic man like his father Brian, but instead from a manipulative monster like his step father Kurt. Sharon had rushed into to marriage with Kurt, completely unable to contemplate running the household's financial affairs on her own after Brian's death, and horrified by the prospect of ending up solitary widow in old age. Considering herself past it, she had been almost pathetically grateful when Kurt asked her to marry him.

Kurt hadn't wanted Brian's brat around, and had plainly told Sharon so. His mother had obediently packed him off to boarding school at the earliest opportunity, fearful of displeasing her new husband. The school was not overly unpleasant, and his physical needs had always been well met, but the emotional ones had fallen by the wayside. Being home for the holidays had always been a cold and clinical experience.

During his younger years before he'd met Raven, Charles' gift had seemed more like a curse. Initially all he could do was hear thoughts, not influence them. Placing images into other people's heads was something he'd only managed develop in his early twenties and physically controlling others was something he'd only realised he could do a year ago when he and Erik had tracked Frost to the USSR.

Charles hadn't learnt how to shield himself from the emotions of others until his teens. So everyday he was at Westchester the toxic mixture of loathing, resentment and negativity engulfed him. He'd spent the holidays as a morose and solitary child, trying his best to avoid contact with the adults that despised his presence.

From all accounts Erik's parents had always loved and cherished him and his sister, and Erik failed to appreciate just what difference that made in a person's psyche. Erik's surety, his self esteem, his confidence, his unshakable belief in himself – Charles felt these were all gifts that his parents' love had bestowed on him. Erik had revealed to Charles that his father had died trying to protect his family. Charles highly suspected that Mrs Xavier would have sold him to Shaw in a heart beat, and his step father would have paid the man handsomely to take him away. Erik had so much to teach and pass on, that he would deny his own child this made Charles uncharacteristically angry. Children didn't ask to be born, their parents decided to have them, and their parents should take responsibility for them.

"It's sounds more like you are trying to shirk your parental obligations than protect your son! A child isn't an object you can keep on a shelf somewhere until they mature and prove useful enough to join your army!" Charles snapped " **You** are **choosing** to endanger him and the rest of mutant kind, with your **own** decision to march doggedly on to war with all of humanity. I wonder...what would your own parents have to say about this?"

Erik felt a sudden surge of anger. How **dare **Charles judge him? Charles who had been raised in the lap of luxury. Charles who had never lost a family through violence. What stung the most though, was the ring of truth in Xavier accusation...his mother certainly **wouldn't** approve of Erik's decision to delegate the raising of her grandson...But then she wasn't around was she? None of his family were...If the fates had wanted him to take a different path they should have woven a different thread for him shouldn't they?

"And what do you know of raising children anyway?" Erik demanded, infuriated by Charles' pompous condemnation of him.

Charles gave held his gaze long and hard before replying in a flat tone "I confess not as much as others..."

"Well raising your own flesh and blood is vastly different from taking in a pack of strays!" Magneto spat.

Just because Charles had opened the mansion's doors to younger students didn't give him absolute authority on the subject.

"Yes I imagine there would be some differences...but I shall have to take your word on that, since I'm unlikely to ever have an alternate experience –that is biological offspring of my own - to compare it with.."

The words hit Erik like sledge hammer. His eyes flickered to Charles' useless legs...the severed spinal cord... He swallowed, he'd stolen a whole future from his friend.

"I...I'm sorry Charles...forgive me I didn't think" Erik said a pained expression on his face. "Perhaps...perhaps there's something that can be done...?...In the future..."

Charles sighed, the tension between them dispelling. "Perhaps...but believe it or not my friend, you are not the only one who has reached their limit of being prodded and poked by doctors"

For awhile, the only sound came from the ticking grandfather clock in the corner of the room.

"You would make a marvellous father." Erik said softly at last. Charles swallowed, he was touched by the sentiment. "..That's why I know leaving Pietro here is the right decision..." Erik continued. Charles let his friend's words float in the air for a while before speaking again.

"...Erik...I still think he has a right to know...but ultimately...you are right: it's your decision. I won't tell him if you don't wish me to. " Charles said, but it was just a statement, no judgement in the words this time. The tone if anything was resigned.

Erik ran his hand his hand over his faced and released a deep sigh. When he finally looked at Charles again he looked beyond tired, beyond exhausted. It was a rare naked glimpse at Erik's soul, it was a look filled with sorrow, guilt and remorse.

"My daughter is dead...My wife dead...My mother is dead...all because of me."

"Erik...Shaw killed your mother. Your daughter died in a fire. Your wife was shot by-"

"Because they knew **me**!" Erik shouted standing, why couldn't Charles understand? His love was like a death sentence Erik crumpled back onto the bed, he held his head in his hands. "Charles...my capacity for grief is not endless...I can't continue loosing members of my family and hang on to my sanity." Raven, Charles, Pietro...that was all that was left now. He couldn't even mentally add Wanda to that list until he found out for sure that she'd survived the ship wreak. It would be too painful to start to think of her as alive only to find out she had been dead for a year... If he was less selfish maybe he'd send Raven back to Charles to keep her safe as well. But he needed a second in command he could trust...

"You know...your son has similar theories about himself" Charles said sadly " He thinks he's cursed"

Erik dismissed this a wave of his hand. "The child is confused. It's just some silly superstition that Magda's people clung to. It's nonsense, he'll grow out of it."

"That's what I said to him." Charles said a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Erik read the suggestion in his friend's eyes' he frowned irritably.

"Charles this is not the same thing at all. I don't believe I'm cursed...I just think..."

"You're unlucky?" Charles concluded for him. Erik glared narrowing his eyes. He knew that Charles was wrong but he couldn't formulate a logical argument that would prove it. He signed. Charles reached over and patted his leg.

"Get some sleep my friend."

* * *

><p>Erik awoke late the following morning. It was past noon by the time he'd showered and dressed(Charles having thankfully situated him in an ensuite) . Deciding to go in search of breakfast Erik opened his bedroom door and almost tripped over his son.<p>

"Good-morning-Erik! Do-you-want-some-muffins?" Pietro had said the greeting so fast that Erik had trouble deciphering it. He seemed ridiculously excited that Erik was now awake.

"Pardon?"

"You weren't at breakfast, I saved you some..." Pietro repeated beaming holding out the plate "Charles said you like the blueberry and cinnamon ones..." Pietro's smile faltered slightly "...he also said you might be leaving today..."

_He's been sitting outside your door for over two hours..._Charles' voice sounded in Erik's head. _You know that's an eternity for a seven year old? And a miracle for **your **seven year old ...I've never seen him sit still for so long..._

_Don't start Charles _Erik warned, the conversation sounded innocent enough now, but he knew where this was going...they'd already **had** this debate.

He felt Charles retreat from his mind, the telepath knew that he would not win this argument.

"Have you got another headache?" Pietro was looking up at him with concern, taking in the older man's knotted brow.

"No, I just need some coffee...lets go to the kitchen..." Erik said giving his son a small reassuring smile "I'd like to hear more about your sister."


	22. The Things We Have In Common

"What do you remember about the hospital you were brought to after the shipwreck?" Erik asked Pietro as he took another sip of his coffee over breakfast. They were alone at the breakfast table, the mansion's other residents had already eaten. Most of the Omega survivors had opted to return to their own homes, but the few that hadn't were currently being housed in the mansion's many rooms.

"Not much..." Pietro replied scratching his head "...it's kinda blurry...I didn't stay there too long...only a couple days I think..."

"Do you remember it's name?" Erik pressed.

Pietro shook his head quietly. He could neither speak nor read English at the time and had been suffering from a concussion. Pietro mostly remembered being bewildered and scared.

"That makes things considerably more difficult..." Erik sighed...finding his daughter without knowing the name of the hospital where the twins were separated was going to be complicated. Erik needed a place to pick up a paper trail. He could search all the hospitals in the New York area but that was going to take a significant amount of time. The ship that had capsized had been a freighter carrying stowaways, not an official passenger ship, so there would be no database to check survivors against, and if Wanda's experience was anything like Pietro's she might not have comprehended enough to give her name to the hospital staff when asked. To be "helpful" the staff might even have assigned her a new one.

On the journey home Charles had mentioned that Beast and Forge -the mutant with the bandanna and the metal prostheses- had been trying to rebuild Cerebro* but Riptide's destruction of the machine had been quite thorough, and progress had been slow. At the moment Charles could only use it locate mutants that he'd already met and it's range was quite diminished.

Then there was of course the possibility that Wanda wasn't a mutant at all, which meant employing Cerebro would be futile anyway, but Erik was pushing this to the back of his mind, because if she wasn't, that was going to require a serious rethink of certain elements of his political manifesto. However Pietro could not recall Wanda exhibiting any strange abilities. No extraordinary strength, speed or mind reading, and apparently she did not look markedly different from any other little girl. She was young however, and research indicated that the x-gene usually started expressing itself at the onset of puberty. Occasionally as a response to extreme physical or psychological stress it would express itself earlier, as had happened in Pietro's case. Charles believed that this phenomenon was related to the body's survival mechanism. The abilities of those either blessed or cursed with this precocious onset were somewhat sporadic and wouldn't stabilize until puberty. Beast hypothesized that Pietro's advanced speed was only available to him at times of extreme stress, and might become dormant again once he reached a healthy body weight, then subsequently re-emerge at puberty. Erik was somewhat disappointed about this, although he had no intention of recommending his son be starved to enhance his training, he did think that the earlier mutants could start practising with their gifts, the more adept they would become at mastering them.

"What was the name of the last orphanage you were at?" Erik asked.

"St Florian's home for wayward boys." Pietro answered.

"It may be worth starting there and working backwards..." Erik mused. They sat in silence for a while, Erik trying to formulate some kind of strategy for locating Wanda more quickly.

"Erik?" Pietro asked looking up at the older man intently and snapping Erik out away from his thoughts.

"Hmmmm?" Erik asked taking in Pietro's serious gaze.

"Thanks...for like..._everything_. Doing this...helping me find Wanda...getting me out of that place...making sure I was ok the other night..."

"You're welcome." Erik gave the boy a lopsided smile. "But I believe you saved me from Rossovich first, so strictly speaking I am simply repaying the debt"

Pietro grinned back at him. "We make a good team huh? Maybe you should adopt me."

Erik's smile faded, and a pained look came over his face which Pietro took as a bad sign, the boy looked down at his half eaten muffin poking at it. He'd eaten five already, the sixth had gotten the better of him.

"I was just kidding..." Pietro said quietly. He had only really been half kidding. But even that had been stupid. What had he thought? That Erik would say: "Great I idea kid! I've always wanted a white haired delinquent for son" and he'd get a cool new Dad? Of course not...that was dumb.

Pietro had overheard the others say things about Erik, some of them were scary, but most were damn impressive. But all intents and purposes none of them had indicated that he would he want a kid tagging along when he went about his daily business. And even if he had wanted a kid, he'd never want me...Pietro thought...nobody really did. Sure the Professor's mansion was nice, the best place he'd been in a long time, but well...everyone was always so busy... No one had much time for him. He missed the close family unit of the Maximoffs and his mother terribly. He'd never realised how lucky he was to three parents until he didn't have any...

Erik had given him an awful lot of attention in the last week...seemed to really care what he thought about things...listened to him babble on about his mother and sister and Mayra, and Russia. Hell could even speak Russian and Romani...Alright so Colossus spoke Russian and the Professor had been very kind to him, and did listen when he had the time...but Colossus had his little sister Illyana to keep and eye on, and the Professor was almost always busy with one of the other students.

Besides Pietro knew the Professor liked Scott Summers better than any of them anyway, even if he tried not to play favourites. Which wasn't fair really, because Scotty already had an older brother _and_ he was a bossy idiot. Pietro wasn't anyone's priority...and one day soon he was sure they'd all get sick of him accidentally breaking the stuff he ran into and they'd kick him out...good things never lasted...

"Pietro..." Erik said gently. Pietro concentrated intently on his muffin and didn't look up. "I'd be proud to be your father..." The boy did look up then, surprise and pride written on his features. "But my life is not suited to raising children...it is too dangerous. You have heard the others whispering about me, have you not?"

"Is what they said true?" Pietro asked all his attention focused laser like on Erik "Were you really going to kill all those people from the ship while they were tied up?"

Erik gave his son a measured look before answering "...It is..."

Pietro looked down, the motion made his hair fall forward covering his eyes, so that Erik could not read them. The older man sighed, perhaps an explanation was due?

"I am not the monster or the psychopath that certain people would have you believe...I kill, yes. But not without reason or conscience. Don't all soldiers in a war do the same with their enemies? Everyone associated with Omega is a threat to our people, it's- "

"-Good." Pietro interrupted Erik.

"What?" Erik frowned confused. His son looked at him.

"I said good. They deserved it. They were going to kill us all eventually...'cept they were gonna do it slowly..." Erik decided he liked this kid even more. Pietro looked away from him again, the boy's eyes held shadows in them. "I saw this science show on T.V. once..." Pietro continued "There was this guy in a white coat, on the table in front of him was this glass box a mouse in it. He flicked this switch and this cloudy gas filled up the box, the mouse started twitching...and squeaking...it was in real pain...but the scientist- he stands there watching and explaining what's happening...he doesn't care about the mouse..." Pietro swallowed "Before you showed up they put this lady in the cell with me...she had these burns all over her body...and...she said never said anything...just sat in the corner rocking back and fourth...later the guards came and took her away and a little while after they brought her back she started twitching just like that rat...except she wasn't squeaking, she was screaming...she..she-" Pietro was suddenly having trouble getting enough air into his lungs to finish the sentence, his hands where in tight fists and his knuckles where white, his fingernails dug in to his palms, Erik noticed a trickle of blood flow down his thumb. Wordlessly he got out of chair and knelt next to his son, reaching out and gently unclenching his son's fists. Erik took one of Pietro's hands in two of his dwarfing it. Pietro's breathing steadied somewhat as the panic attack subsided but he didn't look up at Erik.

"She died in front of you." Erik concluded sympathetically. Pietro nodded.

"I hate them.." Pietro said tightly. Erik gave his hand a squeeze, and they stayed in silence for a while. He wasn't going to ask Pietro for more details of what they did him if the boy didn't volunteer, talk therapy was overrated in his opinion. Erik himself had never truly given a catalogued account of all the ways Shaw tortured him, and honestly never thought it would help anything if he did. He respected Pietro's decision not talk about things that couldn't be changed. Pietro's eye's flickered to the numbers on Erik's arm, his mother had carried a similar set of digits.

"Beast said you hate people who aren't mutants..." Pietro said quietly "...is that true?"

Erik paused for a while before answering.

"Mr Mcoy has a habit of over simplifying social interactions and political viewpoints...Homo-sapiens, that is non-mutants, have an instinct to oppress and destroy anything different. Despite what Professor Xavier says, they do not want us walking among them and cannot be trusted. They are trying to destroy and enslave our race. I would rally my brothers and sisters to war before I would bare witness to another genocide. For Charles it is the opposite. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

Pietro nodded.

"I think so...B-but... you wouldn't hurt someone just because they weren't like us?" Pietro asked nervously.

"I don't go around murdering homo-sapiens indiscriminately if that's what you're asking...I believe the fact that Moira is still alive is testimony to that..But neither do I have much tolerance for them."

Pietro's face fell. "So you don't think you could ever like a 'sapien? Even if they were really really nice...and kind..?" Pietro asked.

Erik sensed that the boy really wanted to ask something else but was skirting around an issue.

"What is you're trying to ask Little Lion?"

"I don't think Wanda's a mutant." Pietro blurted out. Something flashed on Erik's face, Pietro couldn't read the expression, but hurried to make a case for his sister regardless "But you'd like her! I know you _would_-and she'd like you. She's not mean or horrible like the people on that ship at all...Wanda doesn't even like to kill spiders..."

"I'm sure I will like your sister very much...regardless of whether she has an x-gene or not." Erik said softly "Neither you nor her will ever have any reason to fear me or the Brotherhood, on that you have my word Pietro."

"But I heard you say to the Professor that you don't think mutants and normal people should live together...?"

Erik gave his son a stern look. "You mean you **eavesdropped**...?" Pietro ducked his head sheepishly, Erik sighed and continued "There are...**exceptions** to every rule..." He conceded, and was glad Charles wasn't in his head at that moment or within earshot.

Pietro beamed "Like my mother and Mayra and Wanda?" The boy asked.

Erik felt his chest tighten at the memory of Magda. How he'd have loved to have reunited with her and his children before fate tore them all apart. He pushed the emotion aside and managed a small smile. "...Yes...like them."

"You know..." Pietro began and Erik could see cogs start turning behind his eyes "I could help you, I could join the Brotherhood. I can run really really fast! You haven't seen how fast I can run yet. I could be your personal messenger! I'd be the perfect recruit. I'd do what ever you told me! "

"Pietro..." Erik looked very uncomfortable.

"I know you think I'm just some little kid...but I'm not really seven-I'm seven and three quarters, which is almost eight, which is very nearly ten!" Erik closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose, he felt another headache coming on. Pietro continued unperturbed. "I know what you're thinking - that you'd have to look after me...but you wouldn't!" Erik got up and made his way to the coffee maker on the other side of the kitchen. Yes definitely another headache coming on. Pietro followed him determined to put his point across, he yanked on the bottom of Erik's turtle neck to get his attention. "I'd been looking after myself for months before I ran into the Professor-"

"No." Erik glanced downwards sternly "You'd been **starving** and narrowly avoiding death for months-"

"-I could feed myself!"

"From dumpsters and stolen scraps?" Erik said cuttingly. Pietro went red and stopped talking "You are a **child** Pietro." He bent down next his son and put a hand on his shoulder "Listen when you come of age nothing would please me more than to have you fight by my side. But for now you are staying here, where Charles will teach you how to harness your gift and you will promise to do your absolute best to learn from him."

Frustrated Pietro made to walk away. Erik pulled him back and turned the boy's chin up so Pietro had to look at him. "You'll promise me." Magneto said firmly, it was the voice of command, an order, not an invitation for further discussion.

"Fine. I promise." Pietro said folding his arms in frustration. Satisfied Erik let go of the boy's chin.

"Now I have something to ask you Pietro, why did you run away from the mansion in the first place? Don't you like it here?"

"Sure I do! It's the best place I've ever lived...b-but I **had** to keep looking for Wanda."

"Why didn't you just ask an adult for help? Charles said you've never even mentioned Wanda to anyone here..."

Pietro furrowed his brow and shrugged. "I dunno...I guess no one ever wanted to help find my sister before...I just figured it would be the same here...and if I told anyone they'd try to stop me...and couldn't let them..."

"Well if I am to help you find your sister, you are going to promise me that you won't set foot outside these grounds without explicit permission."

"I promise. Cross my heart" Pietro supplied quickly, crossing his chest; imitating the ancient Catholic habit he'd acquired from his mother. Neglecting to draw attention to fact that Erik had not mentioned whose explicit permission. Pietro suspected Erik meant one of the adults but he hadn't **specifically** said that...First rule of negotiation and all...

"Good." Erik said studying his son, he'd been expecting more resistance. Well perhaps the boy was finally learning not to argue with him. That was good, maybe it would make the next topic of conversation easier. Unlikely Erik thought...Saying goodbye to someone you care about is never easy.

* * *

><p><em>*Marvel never did make up their mind on spelling and pronunciation...Sometimes it's cerebra sometimes it cerebro...I like cerebro better, so that's what I'm sticking with :)<em>


	23. Small things

Erik took a deep breathe and pulled a metal box out of his jacket pocket.

"This is for you." He said presenting the box to Pietro. He felt uncharacteristically anxious. "It's a farewell gift."

"Can't you...can't you stay a bit longer..?" Pietro asked downcast. Erik felt his heart wrench.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. " He replied softly. "I'll be back to visit when I can...and I'll be in contact if I uncover anything about your sister." The boy was quiet for a few moments before speaking again, he studied the box.

"I don't have anything to give you..." Pietro said quietly. Erik smiled reaching over and tousling his son's hair.

"Just keep yourself out of trouble, and I'll consider us even" Erik said. Pietro managed a small smile. He opened the box. Inside was a silver pendant, the precious metal was moulded into the shape of a roaring lion.

"Erik...this is..." Words failed Pietro, no one had given him anything like this before. His less than wholesome experiences on the streets of New York had taught him that a pendant like this one would be worth a lot of money. The craftsmanship of the lion was very skilful. Sarah Hudson had had a draw full of sterling silver jewellery that she'd inherited and loved to brag about. But something about the way the light danced on the nearly luminous metal made Pietro think that this was worth even more than any of her pieces. He suddenly swallowed, looking worried.

"...it's way too expensive... shouldn't give it to me...I might loose it...!" he breathed.

Erik chuckled taking the chain and slipping it over his son's head. "You're right it _is_ made out of some expensive material...very expensive...it's _fine_ silver...more reason to give it to you...if you're concentrating on keeping it safe, you'll be concentrating on keeping _yourself_ out of dangerous situations as well."

Pietro examined the pendant between his fingers, something about it was familiar. But he wasn't sure why it should be...it didn't resemble anything he'd seen in the Hudson's house, passing by city shop windows or adorning the necks of New Yorkers. So then...where...?

"Where did you buy it?" Pietro asked still staring at the pendant.

"I didn't" Erik smiled. "...I made it. While you were sleeping on the ferry."*

He'd re-sculpted his high-priced silver pocket watch to make the gift for Pietro. Focusing his mind on a practical task had helped Erik settle it, and stopped him ruminating on all the emotional baggage the preceding days had dredged up.

"No fooling?" Pietro looked at him surprised. He couldn't picture Erik doing something so delicate.

"None at all." Erik replied.

"Where'd you learn how to do that?" the boy asked.

"My uncle taught me, when I was not much older than you are now. He owned a jewellery store. I used to help him with repairs and small tasks in the shop." Erik answered. Pietro looked thoughtful. The chain of the pendant was twisted into seven strands and linked in a way he'd only ever seen on a chain belonging to-

"My mother - she had a necklace like this!" Pietro exclaimed excitedly, finally placing the familiar craftsmanship. "She must have got it from your uncle's shop...she used in live in Germany when she was little" Pietro said looking up at Erik who had paled slightly. Pietro's happy surprise turned to a look of concerned anxiety. "Do you feel sick again? I-I'll get the professor-"

"-No. No, I'm fine" Erik said quickly trying to cover his reaction. He'd made and given Magda a silver chain back in his schoolboy days when they'd both lived in Nuremberg. He'd thought she would have thrown it away when she'd left him...or sold it..Being on the run with no possessions and heavily pregnant didn't do much for anyone's sentimentality...Did the fact that she'd kept his old gift mean that some part of her had still loved him?

"Do you have it now? Your mother's necklace I mean...?" Erik asked. For some reason he felt needed to see this uniting fragment from his own and Magda's past. Pietro scowled, wrinkling his nose.

"Rossovich took it" Pietro said bitterly "It was in Mamma's jewellery box..."

Erik nodded slowly, remembering the details of Pietro's recount. "I shall have to try and retrieve it." Erik muttered. Pietro looked up at him bewildered and surprised by edge of determination in the man's voice.

"...but...Rossovich wouldn't have kept something like that...he'd just trade it for cash...right? Besides he's dead.." It was Pietro's turn to pale "...isn't he?".

"Probably." Erik answered distractedly. Pietro didn't find that very comforting. "Rossovich strikes me as the kind of man who likes to keep trophies from his kills...Instinct tells me the necklace is somewhere amongst his possessions..." Erik mused more to himself than the boy.

"...It's not really _that _important..." Pietro said swallowing. Erik was already doing him a huge favour finding Wanda, adding a treasure hunt for his mother's jewellery to the wishlist seemed a bit ridiculous."...it was real pretty, but I don't think Mamma would want someone to risk getting hurt trying to get it back..."

Erik looked back at Pietro, snapping out of his private thoughts.

"She sound's like a sensible woman." Erik acknowledged.

_I'll find my daughter first_. _Then I'll see about my wife's necklace,_ Erik thought to himself. He plucked his leather jacket from the back of the chair and slipped it on.

Pietro followed his movements with big eyes.

"Are you leaving now?"

"After I see Dr Reyes."

"Do you have to go to the medical bay? I know where it is, I can take you." Pietro said, keen to spend more time with Erik while he could.

"Lead the way" Erik said congenially.

* * *

><p>The medical bay was situated several levels underground.<p>

"My my, Charles _has _been busy..." Erik commented, noting the subterranean extensions. In addition to the bunker. There were several other rooms leading off the corridor. Erik was curious about them, but he was expected by Cecilia, and the German took punctuality very seriously. Besides he could hardly go poking around the mansion's depths with Pietro in tow. Soon they arrived outside the medical bay door.

"Thank you Pietro. You can go back upstairs now" Erik said dismissing the boy.

"Do want someone to stay and-"

"No."

"But I could-"

"Not necessary."

Pietro looked terribly disappointed. Erik smirked and gave him a friendly nudge towards the stairs.

"Go on now...upstairs and no eaves dropping...I'm sure Charles has you on some kind of schedule...and if he doesn't he should..children need structure... I'll come find you and say good by when I'm done here."

Pietro pouted but complied. "..Okay..." The boy answered, deflated he slumped back off down the corridor.

Erik entered the bay, it was quite spacious and held several comfortable looking beds. On the opposite wall facing the beds was a large television monitor was mounted into the wall, a weather girl chattered cheerfully behind the electric screen.

"It's good to see you looking well again, Mr Lensherr." Celia Reyes greeted Erik cheerfully emerging from a partition that looked like a lab. Erik found himself returning her warm smile. He reflected that she was the first doctor whose presence he'd felt at ease in since Shaw.

"Erik or Magneto...please Dr Reyes." Celia nodded.

"I'll need to take some blood samples and run some tests on..." She trailed off frowning. Erik followed her gaze to the television screen on the wall behind him and soon had an expression to match.

Turning to the screen Erik found his own face staring back at him. In the background he could hear the reporter. Numbly his mind registered the words "bank robbery", "CIA" and "suspects in Halloween costumes".

* * *

><p>*I did not make this up! Erik really did used to make jewellery! Read "Magneto Testament" if you haven't already – you won't be disappointed.<p> 


	24. Chapter 24

Erik stared dumbfounded at the television as the on screen Magneto spoke to the crowd in front of the bank. "We've come to claim what's rightfully ours. Surrender the bank and it's assets peacefully and you won't be harmed, resist and you will be killed".

The broadcast cut back to the reporter "We're here outside Forbes bank where a group of individuals dressed in Halloween costumes have taken the employees and customers hostage...

Federal agents arrived on the scene and fenced off the area after a sword wielding robber in red face paint killed two policemen and injured several bystanders."

"How is he...? I mean...isn't that _you_?" Dr Reyes looked from the live news broadcast to her patient clearly confused. Erik's mouth set into a grim line.

"No. It's someone who _looks_ like me." He replied quietly.

Mystique. There was no other explanation. But why was she doing this? Erik had no argument with the manifesto she proclaimed, just the timing of it. Revealing their existence and their plans to the nation, was moronic- not to mention suicidal. The one thing that Charles, the CIA and Erik agreed on was that, for the moment, public knowledge of mutants was a bad idea. The CIA feared mass public panic. Charles feared vilification. Erik featured another holocaust.

Erik would be quite happy to put the homo-sapiens in their proper place once his brethren were truly ready for war. The brotherhood's aggressive means of wealth acquisition had not been devoid of purpose. Erik did not use his power or possessions frivolously, and had planned to use the brotherhood's bounty to acquire an island off the coast of Africa that would serve as permanent base. After the fiasco in Cuba he had been careful to limit his activities to Europe, dabbling only in the shady areas of the blackmarket and non-civillian targets. Bank robberies were a high risk operation and far too public.

Back on screen, the police and CIA agents stood tense poised for action with guns trained on the brotherhood.

"Foolish homo-sapiens. Abandon your weapons or they shall be turned against you!" the Magneto doppelgänger boomed.

"How do you figure that wise guy?" One of the police sneered back, the Doppelgänger answered by holding out his hand. The officer's arm moved without his consent so that it was now pointing at his colleague. The weapons held by the rest of the squad did the same.

Watching scene, Erik narrowed his eyes as he watched the man's panic rise. It wasn't magnetism. The policemen would have let go, or tried to wrestle the weapons back under their control. This was a force that they couldn't resist – telepathy. Emma. He scanned the members of the brother present behind his double. Sure enough she was there intensely watching the Mystique Magneto.

"Erik the brotherhood-Raven is-" Charles began as he hurriedly wheeled himself into the medical bay.

"In trouble. I know." Erik answered without taking his eyes off the screen.

"They're acting under your orders?!" Charles asked angrily.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Erik snapped. "Emma's behind this. Blasted woman's double crossed me!.. Made a bid for control of the Brotherhood in my absence...and used Raven as her puppet in a bloodless coo...But I'm missing something... this act is irrational. I'm hardly surprised she's turned on me...however Emma is cold and calculating, and most un-fond of brawls. She stands to gain nothing from setting the brotherhood up for a stand off with the police-"

Erik stopped mid sentence as the sound of gunshots rang out from the television.

"Oh my God.." Celia whispered as her hand flew to her mouth in shock. The camera swivelled to the bodies of the executed policemen. Emma had compelled them to kill each other.

"This is madness..." Erik muttered.

"This is mass murder!" Charles said, appalled by Erik's detached attitude.

"I care nothing for the Sapien police Charles. But Emma's foolishness could destroy the brotherhood. I need to stop her before they send in-"

As if on queue several military vans pulled up in front of camera.

"...the army" Charles finished for him.

A man with an eye patch and closely cropped hair jumped out of the lead vehicle, stomping out a cigar as he hit the ground.

"Show's over folks, shut down the cameras." The one eyed man ordered. One of his colleagues moved closer to the screen and shortly after the feed dissolved into static. An image of a startled reporter in a news room flickered on the television a few seconds later.

"We...uh...we seem to be experiencing technical difficulties...er...we'll be back after a message from our sponsors..." The television began to chime out an inappropriately cheerfully jingle advertising hot dogs.

Erik strode towards the door.

"Erik where are you going?" Charles asked. Erik looked back at his friend like he was a simpleton.

"To stop Frost obviously."

"How do you plan to do that?" Charles asked patiently.

Erik was about to give Charles another look, but then realised the man had a valid point. How was he going to fight Frost and perhaps the U.S. Military while powerless, unwell and operating solo?

"Erik-Erik!" Pietro burst into the room, the boy was flushed like he'd run all the way there in a fit of excitement. "There's a guy that looks like you on T.V. he even has a corney-uh I mean..uh..._groovy_ helmet like yours! Come look!" The boy said taking Erik's hand and pulling.

Erik stayed stationary "I'm aware." He gave his son a disapproving look. "I told you to wait upstairs." He said sternly.

"I did!-I was. It's free time. We were watching T.V. in the rec room-Do you know that guy?"

Erik sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. This wasn't the way he'd wanted to explain his 'day job' to his son.

"You need to learn to obey instructions" Erik snapped irritably. Pietro looked at the floor.

"He doesn't look anything like the guy on T.V. " Said a new voice. Erik looked towards the doorway where a boy similar in age to Pietro and wearing red goggles, stood with crossed arms. "You're such a liar."

"Whatever Scotty! You couldn't see anything through those dumb glasses anyway!" Pietro shouted back at Scott Summers. The son didn't suffer insults any more readily than his father did. Any temporary relief Erik might have felt that he had not been instantly recognizable from his brief television appearance, evaporated by the scene that unfolded next. Pietro rushed at Scott wrestling him to the floor. The two boys were soon engaged in an all out brawl, rolling around on the stone tiles and colliding with furniture.

"Get off me you skinny white haired freak!" Scott snarled grabbing a tuff of Pietro's hair and tugging on it sharply. Pietro responded by trying to rip off Scott's goggles.

"Don't call me a liar you bug eyed moron!"

Charles sighed. He was too all familiar with this scene.

_Erik would you mind helping me separate them? _Charles sent. _I had hoped that being similar in age Scott and Pietro would be friends. But their commonalities only seem to fuel this intense rivalry between them._ _If it were an emergency I'd freeze them. But it scares the children to be controlled like that. They've both had traumatic pasts, I'd like to avoid adding to it._

"A little fear can be a good thing Charles." Erik answered as he strode forward and hauled Pietro to his feet by his collar. While Charles pulled Scott back by his wrist, who to his credit, contented himself with glowering at Pietro instead attempting to jerk free of his restrainer like a mad dog as Pietro was doing. Annoyed by his son's disobedience, Erik took hold of his son's ear. The sharp pain had the desired effect and Pietro relinquished his attempts to break free and get to Scott.

The boy looked up at Erik cringing slightly at the stony look on the man's face.

"What have I told you boys about fighting?" Charles asked calmly.

Scott looked at the floor and Pietro squirmed uncomfortably in Erik's grip."Sorry professor..." They chorused together.

"Both of you know you're not supposed to be down here without an adult. I think you should both go back upstairs don't you?"

"Yes sir.." They said once again in union.

Scott sulked out of the room but when Pietro made to follow Erik pinched his ear and tugged him back. Causing a sharp in take of breath from the boy.

_Don't be too hard on the child Erik._ Charles sent, he could feel the waves of apprehension and anxiety rolling off Pietro. _They really are both a lot calmer now than they were when they first arrived...Now they only fight a few times a week..._

_That's still highly unacceptable Charles! I won't have my son acting like some ill breed little ruffian. He is far too wild as it is. If his self control doesn't improve, he could end up badly hurt or worse... _Erik replied and then stared coolly down at Pietro.

"I don't ever want to see you behaving that disgracefully again. You don't start fights with your brothers do you understand me?"

"He's not my brother, he's a stupid-ow!"

Erik cut the boy off by increasing the pressure on his ear. "He's a mutant. Like you. Like **us**. Which makes him your brother. We do not fight our own people. Ever. Do you _understand_?" Erik repeated, his voice quieter and more menacing. Pietro nodded quickly.

"Good" Erik released Pietro's ear. "I do not wish to have this conversation with you again. Now go back upstairs and **stay** there unless you are called."

Pietro hurried to the door rubbing his ear, but then stopped and swallowed. His bottom lip quivered as looked back at Erik, who felt himself thaw considerably as strong urge to walk over and hug the child crept into him. But he fought it off. It didn't do to be soft when trying to instil discipline. Instead he gazed back at Pietro impassive and expectant.

"A-are you still going to help find Wanda?" The boy asked in a small voice. Worried that in his displeasure Erik might just cast his earlier promise aside.

"Are you going to behave like a young gentleman in the future, instead of a wild animal?"

Pietro nodded quickly.

"Then I'm still going to help find your sister. " Erik answered. Relief flooded the boy's features.

"Are you still going to say goodbye before you leave?" Pietro asked hopefully.

"If you don't cause any more trouble. Upstairs. Now."

Pietro disappeared out the door. Erik turned to Xavier.

"Alright Charles, I'm open to your suggestions for resolving the current crisis."


	25. Reunion

Man it's been ages... Real life has been action packed. New job (which intellectually stimulating but the work load makes it feel like a gulag at times), and I finally managed to buy my first house ^_^ I know I've neglected this story for absolutely ages, but I really do want to finish it someday. Christmas has been the first chunk of spare time I've had in yonks.

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><p>"I believe a visit to Hank's laboratory is in order." Charles said wheeling himself out of the door. Erik followed him along the corridor. "He's constructed a device which allows him to eavesdrop on government communications...we need to find out which pieces are in play before we enter the fray"<p>

Beast growled at Erik as the duo entered his laboratory. The German tipped his head congenially.

"My apologies for my brusqueness on the ferry Hank-" Erik began smoothly.

"_Dr McCoy_." The blue mutant growled "My _friends_ call me Hank. If Raven's hurt because of you-"

"-So you've seen the news – good." Erik replied "That will save time. We're on the same side _Dr McCoy_." Beast snorted but Erik continued "...I want her back safe and sound as much as you do..."

"We _all_ want her back safe and sound". Charles interjected annoyed by the antagonistic behaviour of his two close friends. "We thought that your recent invention would be able to help with that..." Beast turned back the radio that he had been fiddling with before two men had entered.

"I've tuned into same frequency the military use, they're transporting a group of prisoners that fit the brotherhood's description to Fort Leavenworth in Arizona *"

"All that fire-power is going to pose a problem." Erik said.

"Not if they're inclined to be peaceful" Charles said tapping his temple. Erik's lips turned upwards slightly.

"Out of curiosity how many people can a telepath influence simultaneously?" Hank asked Charles.

"For me more than one becomes extremely difficult, but the skill lies more in choosing the right mind to Focus on – soldiers always act under orders...I just need to influence their commander-"

"Take the king and none of the other pieces on the board matter" Erik summarized. Charles nodded.

"An apt analogy. But Emma..."

"Her gift seems to function differently from mine..." Charles said frowning.

"I'll get the rest of the team together" Hank said moving towards the door.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea Hank" Charles interjected. "I think the three of us and Celia -if she agrees - will do better." Erik and Hank exchanged sceptical looks, for the first time they looked they actually agreed on something. Charles hurried on with an explanation. " We want to avoid a combat situation, this is a rescue mission. We get Raven ….and the others...and we get out _quietly_. If something does go wrong at least the cavalry won't have been captured as well. Besides if the CIA finds out about the Xavier Institute a team needs to be here to help protect and evacuate the children."

"A point well made...but why bring Celia? I don't doubt her skills as a medic...but I think we need someone more robust for this mission -Havock perhaps?" Erik suggested. Hank snorted and Charles' lips twitched involuntarily.

"Celia is more robust than any of us" Charles answered "She can generate forcefields that stop anything from bullets to bombs"

Erik raised an impressed eyebrow "Extremely useful.." his eyes then flickered to the wall behind Charles, there was a pile of dis-guarded mechanical junk in the corner of the room, broken gadgets and monitors that Hank had been recycling for parts. At the edge of the pile something caught Erik's eye. "Speaking of useful..." He strode over and retrieved the cylindrical object. It was the remains of an industrial laser. With some modifications it could be turned in to powerful diamond cutter...

Pietro looked sullenly down at the paper in front of him and tried for the hundredth time to decipher meaningless symbols. A number of the mansion's adult occupants had volunteered to take turns giving lessons to it's younger residents. Today Moria Mctaggert, was in charge of literature and languages and had set the students the task of reading a chapter from Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist. Silently for the first half an hour and then aloud in front of their peers for the last twenty minutes of class. It was the latter that Pietro was dreading.

He had never been a gifted reader. Wanda had picked up the skill far faster than him, and now the gaps in his education and the switch away from his mother tongue had made a once strenuous activity near enough impossible. Russian and English letters formed an odd jumble in his brain and made it hard to make sense of anything on paper.

So far he'd hid his deficit from his classmates by inventing excuses or feigning illness (which due him being under weight when he'd arrived at the mansion, Moira was always inclined to believe) besides there was no way he could let Summers find out he was a dunce.

Pietro wondered if Ms McTaggert would believe yet another one of his excuses...he sensed she was growing suspicious...perhaps evidence was required...

The classroom felt suffocating. Pietro had to escape, he spied the red felt tip pen sitting in front of him and fished Erik's borrowed handkerchief out of his pocket...a few minutes, an ink splattered handkerchief and a disassembled pen later he had created convincing evidence of a nose bleed.

"Ms McTaggert!" Pietro called waving his hand in the air and covering his nose with the "bloody" rag. Moira looked up from her own marking work.

"Yes Pietro- Oh my! What happened? Let me see..." She hurriedly rose from her desk and started to make her way to the back of he class where Pietro was sitting. The boy jumped up quickly moving towards the door.

"It's ok, I think I just blew it too hard or something-I just need to wash my face...I'll be back real quick!" Pietro called running out the door before Moira could stop him.

In fairness he did go _into_ the bathroom before climbing scrambling on to the sink, out of the window and wandered aimlessly through the halls until he found himself outside Erik's former bedroom. He realized with a pang that he probably wouldn't get the chance to say goodbye to Erik now that he'd absconded from class, even the man came to look for him he was pretty sure Erik wasn't going to waste time searching if he wasn't where he'd been told to be yet again. Seized by a moment of curiosity and recklessness, Pietro tried the door and found it unlocked. On the bed sat Erik's suitcase and the dorky helmet. Which must mean that Erik hadn't left yet. Maybe he could get back in Erik's good books again by taking him his suitcase and saving him the journey back to his room? Yeah, that seemed like a good, plan. He'd prove himself useful and maybe try have another go at convincing Erik or ...what did the others call him-_Magneto _(hell that was cool! he needed a code name too...)...at convincing **Magneto**that he would make a good member of the brotherhood.

Pietro slipped the helmet on to his own head to free both his arms for tugging the small suit case then headed off towards down the corridor towards the basement. Like the basement, children weren't normally allowed in this part of the mansion alone, but the Charles had taken pity on Pietro during Erik's loss of consciousness and let him sit outside Erik's door as long as Pietro promised not to wander off anywhere else. Which Pietro hadn't, but from his spot outside Erik's room had spotted Dr McCoy emerging from a concealed elevator...disguised as just another oak door at the end of the corridor.

Ever curious he made his way to the elevator stepped inside and punched the button with large "B". Moments later he emerged in a large underground room, but it was not a part of the basement he had seen before...The room Pietro found himself in had high cavernous walls, various mechanical equipment and computer terminals, but the piece de resistance was the ink black jet, which stood proud and tall at the centre of the hanger. For a few moments Pietro stared at it in awe, wandering out of the elevator (Erik's suitcase completely slipping his mind) and towards the plane. There was a docking platform leading up to the cockpit door

Pietro climbed the docking stairs to the cockpit. He'd never been this close to a plane before and like most small boys he was fascinated by them. Looking up, he noticed the hatch in the roof of cockpit was open...It wouldn't hurt just to have peek inside, now would it?

Pietro clambered up the side of the plane and half jumped, half fell down the hatch landing with an "ompf!" On the pilot seat.

"Sooo cool..." Pietro breathed running his fingers over the control panel.

"I still feel we should take a firearm or two Charles..." Erik's voice almost made Pietro jump out of his skin. The boy looked around wildly. Through his vantage point of the blackbird's tinted windows he spotted Erik, The Professor, Dr McCoy and Dr Reyes emerging from a set of double doors on the far side of the hanger.

A bolt of panic hit Pietro as he ducked down out of sight. He'd never been explicitly forbidden from entering the hanger and sitting in the plane, but if the adults had gone through the trouble of concealing the existence of this part of the mansion, he knew they would not be pleased to find him in the jet.

Erik's warning about keeping out of trouble rattled through Pietro's brain. Should he give himself up in the hopes of pacifying them? Or wait for the inevitable...you never won hide and seek when playing against a telepath...

"You already have that..._thing_...Besides this is to be a peaceful mission remember, my friend?" Charles answered as they made their way to the jet.

Pietro subconsciously made to clutch his hair in panic and was reminded he was wearing Erik's helmet when his fingers collided with cold metal. Maybe, just maybe he'd get out of this without pissing off Erik yet again after all...

Pietro dived into one of the under-seat compartments near the back of the plane just as the adults began to board.

"Did you used to be an engineer Erik?" Celia asked.

"Not officially...but I studied biomechanical and electronic engineering at Vinnitsa National Technical University...before.._circumstances_ prevented me from graduating and pursuing it as a career..." Erik replied vaguely. "A shame in many ways, my tutors said I was naturally gifted..."

"Modest as always." Charles muttered.

Pietro recognised Erik's shoes and felt the seat bow slightly as the man put his weight on it. The boy jumped slightly when a duffel bag hit the floor in front of him and Erik kicked it under the seat with his heel.

Within an hour the blackbird had reached it's destination. As the craft descended downward through the clouds the hairs on Erik's neck pricked up...something was wrong. His instincts were confirmed when the ground beneath them became visible, a tower a of black smoke rose from a smouldering pile of rubble that used be a section of the military base. They were several burnt out vehicles in compound, and although they were still too high to be certain, Erik suspected the black specs on the ground were the bodies of fallen soldiers.

"Apparently we're late to the party..." Erik murmured. "Perhaps you should double check the guest list?" He continued turning to Charles.

Xavier put his fingers to his temple and concentrated on the minds several miles beneath him. A blur of conversation echoed through his head. He focused on a commanding voice coming from a strong but non mutant mind and let his awareness settle there. It belonged to Captain Nick Fury. Charles couldn't sieve through the man's memories without making the subject of his attention aware of the link...but, he could use his window in the man's mind to eves drop on his current thoughts and conversations.

"Mutants...! God damn fucking mutants." Captain Fury grunted stubbing out his cigar with toe of his boot. "As if the Commie's and Nazi's weren't enough, ...now we gotta deal with this clusterfuck on American soil as well...what's the damage report Sargent?"

"Five men still standing...two thirds of the squadron on the causality list...the rest..."

"Fuck..." Fury swore again. "That asshole Magneto double crossed us..."

A flicker of images flashed through Fury's mind, Charles noted them in his own then retreated from the soldier's mind.

"Well...?" Erik asked.

"This isn't good" said Charles. "In short the military believe that you're solely responsible for the massacre below...and that you reneged on some kind of deal to turn the Brotherhood over to them in exchange for keeping the money from the bank robbery..."

Erik frowned.

"There's an incoming transmission..." Beast informed everyone as he accepted connection and switched it to the loud speaker.

"Hello Erik darling...How are you Charles?" Emma's voice crackled over the static.

"Contemplating how best to punish your betrayal. I would strongly advise you **not** to play any more games with me my dear." Erik replied, his voice detached cold and chilling. "If you start begging for mercy now I may even consider making your death quick and painless."

Hank and Celia looked horrified – they weren't here to aide and abet a murder, even that of a cold blooded killer like Emma. Erik however had grown to admire the Roman style of military discipline, a soldier who betrayed their commander could not be tolerated within his ranks. An enemy within your walls was far was worse than any outside. Deserters and traitors were the lowest of the low, they needed to be executed to serve as an example to the other soldiers.

"Oh but games are such fun..." Emma replied a sadistic edge to her voice. "Aren't my games fun Mystique?" A cry of agony rang over the airwaves. The three men on board the blackbird immediately recognised Raven's voice.

"If you've hurt my sister-!" Charles warned.

"-Oh how touching...the over protective cripple to the rescue." Emma mocked "Well I suppose I better tell you where to ride your white horse ...37.1170° North, 116.0500° East...see you soon boys." The transmission clicked off abruptly.

"It's obviously a trap." Charles summarised.

"Obviously." Erik agreed.

"Trap or not, we're not leaving Raven" Beast said through gritted teeth punching in the coordinates.

"My sentiments exactly." Erik said.

"We're all agreed then." Charles concluded.

The coordinates took them over the arid wasteland to what appeared to be a deserted town.

"Odd place for a settlement..." Celia commented. "There's no road...no railway...nothing connecting it to the outside world..."

The men murmured their agreement...The town looked out of place...almost like a shabby mirage someone had abruptly dumped in the middle of nowhere.

"None the less... these are the coordinates..." Beast stated though still puzzled himself.

"I can feel Raven..." Charles said pressing his fingers to his temple and closing his eyes "She's in the building at the centre, semi-conscious..."

"What about Emma?" Erik asked.

"I can't sense her." Charles frowned. "But she may have changed forms..."

"That suits me fine" Erik smiled coldly and reached under the seat for the duffel bag containing the laser gun. Then his expression turned to puzzlement. Erik hand grabbed something warm and soft, not the handle of the duffel bag. He tugged at it and heard and panicked whimper. The sound had a familiar quality. Erik bent and looked underneath the seat, finding himself locking eyes with his son.

"H-hi Erik." Pietro managed a nervous smile . Perhaps if he kept smiling everything would alright. But then judging by the colour that Erik was turning...perhaps it wouldn't.

Erik yanked Pietro out from under the seat and snatched the helmet off the boy's head. Pietro was uncomfortably aware of the disapproving glares he was getting from the other adults in the cockpit, but the anger radiating from Erik was frightening.

"What do you think you're playing at boy?!" Erik seethed "Did we not have a discussion about rules and disobedience only a few hours ago?!"

Pietro said nothing. Erik shook him hard.

"Answer me!"

Pietro couldn't think of a way to explain why he was here without further incriminating himself. Instead he said the first thing that came to mind:

"I uh...Brought your helmet..." Pietro felt the same stupid nervous smile appear on his face again and his stomach sink. Erik's eyes went flat, the pupils seemed to constrict. Pietro paled, the smile finally disappearing.

"Do you think this is some kind of game?" He whispered in a dangerously.

Pietro shook his head quickly. Erik flung him into a chair and buckled the seat belt tightly around the boy.

"You are to stay in that chair until I say otherwise..." Erik snarled. "And if you dare defy me I will make you sorry. Understand?"

Pietro nodded and swallowed.

"I'll start our decent..." said Beast after several moments awkward silence. A few minutes later he'd landed the blackbird at the edge of town.

Hank, Erik and Celia cautiously approached the church at the centre of the settlement, the place where Charles had sensed Raven. Xavier had elected to stay on the Jet, since his powers were just as effective at range and someone had to stay with Pietro.

"Any sign of Emma yet?" Erik asked Charles through their telepathic link.

"None...but I'll keep scanning, and be your guard...I'm getting a reading from another mind it's full of rage and anger-" Xavier replied.

Charles had barely finished his sentence when Erik heard a growl, and spun around to just in time to see Sabre Tooth lunging at him. Beast snarled and lunged intercepting the feral mutant mid pounce, the two of them collided mid-air then tumbled apart on the dusty ground. The force of their impact separating them.

"Go get Raven!" Beast growled quickly righting himself and glowering in Sabre Tooth's direction "I'll take care of things here..."

"Hank we're not leaving you alone!" Celia said.

Erik didn't move he stood staring at Sabre tooth a look of stunned disgust marring the German's features. "I underestimated your ability to heal..."

A nasty smile spread across Sabre Tooth's face. "Lot o' people do...I'm gonna enjoy sticking some metal through **your **throat...right after a rip out blue bird's entrails."

Erik drew his knife from his belt. Beast growled.

"I said I'd take care of it Magneto!" Hank snapped.

"This man is a homicidal maniac prone to psychotic rages...and before you make any jokes at my expense Dr McCoy...**I** don't rip young girls open for entertainment...or rise from the dead...don't take this personally but I don't believe you're up to the job by yourself.."

"Go fuck yourself Lensherr!" Beast moved in a big ball of speed which surprising the other three people in the immediate vicinity and connecting a powerful roundhouse with Sabretooth's face. The other mutant spat blood and prepared to return the parry as Hank yelled out: "and GO GET MYSTIQUE!"

"Erik I can feel her...she's in agony" Charles' voice again rang through Erik's head.

Erik blinked recovering from his surprise... "Perhaps I also underestimated Dr McCoy... Celia I'm going to fetch Raven could you be a dear and make sure Hank doesn't die while I'm away?"

Celia nodded but looked out of her depth. Erik supposed paediatricians weren't much given to combat.

"Here take this" He said handing her his knife "I'll be back as quickly as I can"

Erik ran to the derelict church in the centre, where Charles was mentally guiding him. He burst through the double doors of the building and found himself confronted with a disturbing scene. On the stage behind the pulpit, Mystique was tied to a chair. Her face was bruised and there were electrodes attached to her forehead and toes. She lifted her head weakly as Erik entered.

"Erik...i-it's a trap..!" She called desperately, her voice hoarse.

"I know" Erik said rushing forward to untie her. He was halted in his tracks by the sudden flash of blue light that pulsed through Raven's body, delivering a powerful electric shock and causing her to let out an agonising scream.

"Erik darling, so good to see you...but don't you know it's rude to greet the other guests before you acknowledge the host?" Emma Frost purred stepping out of the shadows and into a shaft of light that filtered in through a gap in the boarded up windows. She was in her diamond form and holding a remote control, Erik deducted it controlled the electric torture device that was attached to Mystique. He watched her stoically.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it was to get non metallic wires for this device? Why don't you take a step back..." Emma said stepping closer to Raven as Erik backed away. The two women were standing so close now he wouldn't be able to get a clear shot with the laser gun.

"What are hoping to achieve here Ms Frost?" Erik asked.

"Revenge." She said simply a cold smile on her face. Erik smirked.

"For Shaw? I never took you for such a sentimental fool".

Emma's smile fell and her face flashed with anger. It was the only real emotion that Erik could ever remember her displaying.

"Shaw was a **great** man! He was a visionary, a genius! ….he was going to lead us all to greatness-"

"He was **batshit** crazy!" Mystique interrupted "Just like you!"

Emma hit the button on the remote control and Mystique screamed again as the voltage ripped through her body.

"He was not **crazy**! I am not **crazy **you ugly bitch!" She slapped Mystique hard across the face. Grabbing a tuff of Raven's red hair she pulled the blue girl's head back so that Mystique found herself looking into Emma's eyes which were burning with hatred.

"He was my King and I was to be his Queen, in a beautiful new world. He freed me in body, mind and soul..."

"Freed you...?" Erik asked deciding that for the time being the best strategy was to keep Emma talking. Emma looked sharply in his direction abruptly letting go of Raven's hair.

"Do you know what rich families do to their little girls who hear voices in their heads?** They send them asylums...and in those asylums they drug you with lithium and pass you around like a piece of meat..." Emma stated with icy bitterness.

"Then Shaw came...the first doctor...the first **man** who truly understood me..." Emma's face lightened with the happy memory, she was looking in Erik's direction but he mind seemed a million miles away in the reverie, and she wandered away from Raven slightly. He took the opportunity to readjust his grip on the gun. "My first and only love..." She shot Erik a look loathing, as she came back to the present "...and you murdered him."

"As I will you." Erik hoisted the laser gun up quickly and blasted Emma with a beam of light that hit her abdomen. She shrieked and fell against the opposite wall, crumpling to the floor groaning.

Erik ran to Mystique and knelt beside her, hurriedly removing the electrodes and then starting on her bonds.

"Erik- look out!" Mystique shouted suddenly. Erik barely had time to respond to the warning. He whirled round just in time to avoid loosing his head to Azazeal's blades, blocking the blow with his makeshift gun. The red mutant had a glazed look in his eyes, out of the corner of his eyes Erik noted Emma had righted herself and returned to her flesh form. She supported herself against at wall with one arm while clutching her side with the other, blood oozed down between her fingers, but it seemed of secondary concern, she was concentrating intensely on Azazeal.

"Don't hurt him Erik!" Mystique pleaded "He doesn't know what he's doing! Emma's controlling him!"

"How about telling him not to hurt me!" Erik muttered as he narrowly avoided another cut, which this time left a sizeable dent in his makeshift shield. "Is this how you plan to run the Brotherhood Emma? Through mind control and torture?" Erik called over his shoulder to Azazeal's puppeteer. "Shaw would be proud..."

"I don't plan to **run** the Brotherhood Honey... I plan to **reinstate** the Hellfire club..." Emma panted raggedly "Any former members that don't feel like accepting my invitation will be destroyed. Red here always had a soft spot for Blue. God knows why...perhaps ugly likes ugly. At any rate I happen to know the rest of our little family is baying for your blood right now. They don't take kindly to betrayal"

Erik's eyes narrowed as he swung a blow at Azazeal's jaw with the butt of the laser gun hoping to knock the other mutant out. It connected but not fully, the force knocked Azazeal back but not out, leaving the teleporter only slightly dazed.

"What do you mean Emma?"

Emma smirked. "You were a bad boy Erik, you disappeared with the money from the robbery instead of sharing, but, that wasn't enough for you. You needed to get homeland security off your back. So you did a deal, the location of the Brotherhood headquarters - and anyone that might be inside - in exchange for them forgetting about you. The Brotherhood was taken completely by surprise and couldn't manage much of a defence. Of course no one was too pleased when they learned from General Fury that their glorious leader was the one who sold them all out to save his own skin. But it **had** to be true, after all weren't he and his girl the only ones missing from Vegas when they were ambushed?"

Erik looked at Emma with stunned disgust. "You gambled the lives of everyone in the Brotherhood for this insanity? Where are they now Emma? Do you even know?"

"Relax sweetie, you should really be worrying about yourself. Sabretooth and I headed a rescue party...they're safe and sound hundreds of miles from here. It helps to have a teleporter on remote control" she smirked at Azazeal.

Erik remembered the aftermath of the massacre they had witnessed as they were flying over the desert.

"Everyone's terribly grateful to us, and terribly mad at you. Well everyone but Azazeal, who started asking too many questions. He was always too smart for this own good. So after I'd made him teleport everyone else away, I decided to bring one last guest to your farewell party "

As if on cue the red mutant began to stagger up robotically, preparing to take another swing at his opponent. Erik had noticed opponent's movements were slower than usual and less elegant. Not by a great deal, but enough equalize the fight and save Erik from becoming grated cheese. Although the German had had his fare share of experience with martial combat, Azazeal's teleportation skills and sheer speed made him a brutal combatant and one that Erik doubted he'd beat in a fair fight. Surprisingly Azazeal also wasn't using his teleportation powers. Erik presumed the telepath's access to some of Azazeal's finer talents was either limited or Azazeal was managing to resist her in some low level way. Even now as he staggered to his feet Azazeal's movements seemed conflicted, feeling a tad guilty, Erik slammed his fist into Azazeal's temple finally knocking him unconscious. The German snatched one of Azazeal's twin swords from the floor and kicked the other out of reach across the room for insurance. He turned to confront Emma but only saw the swinging church doors. Erik moved back to Mystique and renewed his attempts at untying her. Emma could wait, nobody had spotted any vehicles while they were flying overhead and now that Azazeal was no longer able to teleport her she wouldn't get very far.

"You're safe now" Erik said to Mystique as he cut the last of the bonds with his newly acquired blade.

"Erik I'm so sorry...I couldn't stop her...I tried but I couldn't resist her" she said with a half sob Erik gathered her up in his arms, harnessing his gun on his shoulder by it's strap and holstering the sword in the harness. "Everything's ruined..." Mystique chocked.

"Shh now...enough of that..." Erik soothe empathetically, surprising her with the uncharacteristic tenderness. He carried her away from the horrid electronic device and off the stage, stopping in front of Azazeal. "Do you think you could stand for a moment?" Erik asked. puzzling out the logistics of carrying two people at once. Mystique nodded and Erik placed her feet gently on the floor, supporting her around the waist. "Your brother could have made himself of greater use earlier" Erik muttered grumpily, wondering why Charles simply hadn't intervened telepathically when he was fighting Azazeal, at least then, the teleporter could have walked out of there on his own two feet.

_Charles?_ Erik called out mentally. No answer...was his friend ignoring him for some reason? Or was Charles **unable** to hear him...? Erik suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He managed to somehow position Azazeal across shoulders while acting as a support for Mystique. At a slow hobbling pace they managed to make their way towards the Blackbird. As he approached the jet he could see that something was obviously wrong. Pietro was shouting desperately at Dr Reyes...no not just shouting, but physically making a real nuisance of himself...**again**. The boy was pulling and yanking at Dr Reyes clothing desperately trying to distract her from her task. She had a panel on the jet's side open was intently concentrating on pulling out wires. It was kind of work that at person didn't look like they should be distracted from, but Dr Reyes hardly seemed to notice that Pietro was there...

"Pietro! You will stop that at once!" Erik shouted furiously.

"Charles brought kids?" Mystique mumbled bemused.

"Not exactly." Erik replied tightly, settling Azazeal on the ground and stepping away from Mystique. The quiet tension in his voice set Raven's nerves on edge, even in her hazy state she knew that voice meant Erik was about to explode. Mystique noted the tension in Erik's body and suddenly felt sorry for the white haired child that had started running towards them...wearing...was that **Erik's** helmet?

Erik strode towards Pietro and seized him by the arm as soon as his son was within reach, hoisting him up into the air so that they were nose to nose. Pietro who was familiar with demeanour of adults who were running thin on patience took quickly spluttered out an explanation for his behaviour.

"DrReye'sisactinglikeazombie! She hit the professor on his head and now she's pulling wires of the jet. She won't listen - I think she's gonna break it! We gotta stop her! And help her! And help the professor!"

Erik blinked and put his son down, his previous anger evaporated.

"H-here's your helmet back" Pietro added rapidly removing the item from his head again and holding it out to Erik "I-I only put it back on because after you guys left the professor told me it was safer to...I don't think he's hurt bad or anything, but he won't wake up properly...he's kind of muttering to himself "

Erik took the helmet and quickly jammed it back on his son's head "Keep it on until I say otherwise. Here take this as well." Erik said handing him Azazeal's blade, Pietro's stared at the weapon like he'd been given a particularly impressive Christmas present. "Stay with Mystique.." Erik shouted over his shoulder to Pietro, as he started running towards Celia "...use that sword it if a blonde woman in white or a man with fangs gets too close!"

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><p>*Interesting footnote in American history; this place served as an "internment" camp for Japanese American citizens during the second world war. I thought that in a parallel universe it would make sense for the CIA to "detain" other threats to homeland security here.<p>

** Frost really was in the crazy house:

/2011/06/spoilers-x-men-13-revisits-emmas-past-again/

I always picture Emma frost looking an behaving more like Pam from true blood than the actress they go to play her in the X-men first class flick. I think she was kinda wrong for the role. Physically and attitude wise.


	26. Titan 2s and Testing Towns

_Man.. I__'__ve abandoned this for such a long time__…__.I got stuck around this chapter because although it__'__s needed to tie up loose ends it was a bit of a chore to write and needed a bit more research than the others. But I was checking my inbox the other day and came across all the lovely comments that readers had left over last couple months and I was inspired to start writing again ^_^ . I think that this story might be around 35 chapters when it__'__s done__…__.I never intended it to be so long when it first started, but I keep finding extra rabbit holes to go down. I have a whole Wanda centric chapter already written__…__.but obviously I need to post things in the right order__…_

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><p>Mystique felt her legs buckling under her and was surprised when the white haired boy moved to her side in chivalrous attempt to hold her up.<p>

"Woah Toots….you look a bit wobbly"

"Toots?" Raven almost laughed out loud despite herself. Most adults found her natural form terrifying but the boy seemed to actually be admiring her. Relishing his role as bodyguard.

"Don't worry about a thing, my man Erik's one cool cat. He's gonna take of everything you dig?"

"Where on earth did Erik get you?"

* * *

><p>Erik rushed to Celia grabbing the doctor by her arms and forcing her to turn towards him. Her eyes were blank, glazed over like Azazeal's had been. Another person under Emma's spell.<p>

"Charles!" Erik called out as he dragged Celia away from the control panel and manhandled her back into the Blackbird. Thankfully she proved less of physical challenge to Erik than Azazeal had. He spotted the telepath slumped on the floor of the cockpit. His wheelchair had been overturned leaving him on the floor and he had a nasty bump on his head.

"Charles are you alright?!" Erik called while he quickly bound Celia's hands with one of the wires she was still clutching, then tethered her to a seat so she couldn't hurt herself or anyone else. As Erik moved to his friend's side he saw Charles' face was scrunched up, in a mixture of pain and concentration. He was indeed muttering to himself as Pietro had described.

"Charles ?" Erik asked again bending down next to his friend and brushing his fingers over the swollen part of his forehead. Mercifully the bump didn't look too bad.

"Emma….don't do this…..Emma!"

So his friend wasn't muttering to **himself** then Erik mused, but was in telepathic communication with that traitor. No doubt Charles was convinced that he could appeal to Emma's humanity, Erik thought. That was just the trouble with his friend. Charles believed that people who did bad things were just acting out. That evil was just some kind of mental illness and Charles could "cure" everyone. The truth was that the great majority of people that reprehensible things were fully in charge of their faculties, and did them because they enjoyed or were entertained by hurting others. Emma had been sickly entertained by torturing Raven...and if Erik was honest he had enjoyed his vengeance against the Nazis. It had satisfied a dark burning rage inside of him that had been set alight when he lost his mother, and now someone was trying to hurt his new family...he couldn't let that happen...Emma had to be destroyed or she would destroy him. This was neither the time nor the place for Charles' impossible ethics.

Erik gently squeezed friend's shoulder, he didn't want to startle his Charles' from his trance. He leant over and whispered in his friend's ear. "Charles where is she?…..Tell me….I'll end this…before she hurts anyone else."

Charles' eyes fluttered open and feverishly focused on Erik's.

"Erik we have to get out of here. **Now.**"

"Of course. Right after I take care of Emma." He helped pull his friend to a seated position with his back resting against the wall. "Where's she hiding Charles?"

"No **now**! There's no time for Emma this isn't an abandoned town - it's a nuclear testing ground!*"

"What…?"

"The army designs these towns in order to record damage around a blast site and to quality test explosives. This is one of those."

Erik's eyes widened in understanding. He cursed himself for not putting the clues together earlier. He'd read about these places while he'd been scouring over government files on the hunt for Shaw. Why else would a town be sitting in the middle of a desert devoid of connecting roads? Now that he thought about it, the town was devoid of life…. no rats …..no insects…

"Erik…I saw a time Emma's mind… three o'clock."

Erik glanced at his watch. "It's ten minutes to three…." he said feeling a cold sensation creeping through his chest.

"Can you stop the technician's from launching the missile?"

"Not without Cerebro….they're out my range". Charles answered.

Behind him Celia gasped, when Erik looked round he that her eyes were clear and Emma's hold on her was no longer present "W-what ….what happened….?" She asked in a dazed voice.

"Emma must have shifted into her diamond form, she can't use telepathy in that state" Charles said "But she also won't die of third degree burns….and I can't sense her anymore either…"

Erik went over to Celia and quickly untied her. "Emma got inside your head, forced you to sabotage the Blackbird and strand us here….. oh and we're about to get blow to smithereens….unless Dr McCoy can fix it…"

Beast chose that moment to burst into the Jet easily supporting Mystique with one arm and carrying Azazeal on his other shoulder. He had long bloody scratches across his chest and at least a dozen smaller cuts and grazes marred is blue fur, but seemed free of any serious injuries.

"Who the hell pulled out the Blackbird's cabling?! That will take me **days** to fix!" His eyes narrowed on Erik "Was this your idea Lensherr?!"

Erik cast a sideways look at Charles "I guess not…"

Charles quickly sent a mental picture of their predicament to Raven Hank and Celia before the situation could escalate.

"But….Erik can stop the bomb right? Just like you did with the missiles in Cuba." Raven stated "Erik? You can stop them can't you?"

"I don't think I can." Erik replied at length with more uncertainty in voice than Raven had ever heard before. He didn't meet her eyes as he spoke " The Omega mission left me with some…. complications regarding my powers"

Beast looked at Erik incredulously " Well can you at least attempt to **un-complicate** them to stop us being burnt to a crisp?!"

Erik shot Beast an icy glare, and Raven quickly put her hand on Beast's arm to help dissipate the unhelpful tension.

"I'm afraid that would only result in Erik euthanising himself." Charles said rubbing the bump on his head distractedly.

"Are you telling me that if Lensherr uses his powers he'll drop dead?" Beast asked narrowing his eyes sceptically.

Erik looked positively thunderous at having the personal matter discussed so openly. He glared at Charles "You **swore** you would not tell the others!"

"Well technically I think that counts as Hank **guessing** Erik, but I truly don't think that it matters now!" Charles said throwing his hands up in exasperation "Surely it makes sense for us all to be possession of the facts if we are have any chance of finding a solution to our present situation?"

Pietro who had only half understood the conversation looked considerably paler than he had moments before "Erik's gonna die?" he asked, his eyes wide and darting between Beast, Charles and Erik "**We****'****re** gonna die?" The boy's earlier self confidence was quickly evaporating.

"We're **not** going going to die." Erik said quickly with an edge of stubbornness to his voice. He fixed his sights on one of the discarded copper wires lying on the on the floor, and attempted to call it to him. He'd be damned if he was going to sit here and do nothing, if he could move the wire without incident then he might be able to handle something bigger. Besides he felt much healthier than he had yesterday. However the moment the wire it twitched he felt the familiar searing pain erupt in his skull. He collapsed to his knees gripping his head, a cold sweat covering his brow.

"Erik!" Pietro cried rushing over to him. Erik put a palm up to silence the boy and stop him getting any closer. Pietro stopped a couple inches in front of him looking conflicted. He wanted to reach out to Erik, but didn't want to make the man angry. "I'm Fine" Erik finally panted out without looking at Pietro as the headache started to dissipate. The last thing his ego needed was pity from a seven year old.

"God dammit Erik.." He heard Charles chastise. "That was not helpful. Are you alright?"

"I could….I could probably move it…." Erik panted, ignoring Charles' question and the results of his own experiment. "It would just hurt… rather a lot."

Beast eyed him sceptically. "Yes, except the bomb is rather bigger than the wire and we'd preferably want it to be moved more than half and inch away from us."

Erik emitted a sound somewhere between a snort and a dark chuckle and picked himself up off the floor, the situation wasn't really funny at all but Hank's remark had been worthy of his own dry wit.

"If you have any other suggestions **Dr** McCoy I would be enchanted to hear them." Erik said running a hand through his hair to settle it back into place.

"Perhaps…" Celia said suddenly speaking up. "Perhaps my forcefield could protect us?… I mean I've only ever generated them around myself before… but maybe I could focus on generating one around the Blackbird…."

"How does your forcefield work exactly?" Erik asked curiously.

"It's a Psioplasmic Bio-Field….usually it's only generated about six inches around my body….." Celia answered.

"The bio-field is an extension of Celia's body, and so she feels the attack as its effect is dispersed over the field." Hank elaborated looking concerned.

Erik raised his eyebrows and frowned slightly. A gesture that on him, counted for a kind of empathy. " You **feel** the attack? Having a nuclear bomb dropped on that field might sting a tad."

Celia swallowed and Charles suddenly felt terribly guilty for bringing her along on this trip. "I expect so…but it shouldn't do any permanent damage." She said with uncertainty.

"No..you might just feel like you're being burned alive." Beast said, clearly he did not like this plan. "and who knows what damage the radiation will do?"

"Perhaps if Charles helped?" Celia said looking over at him.

Charles frowned "I could try and shut down the pain sensors in your brain…but I think a better solution might be to combine your shield with Erik's if he is agreeable?"

"Is that possible?" Erik asked.

"Well you are already generating a shield, in theory we could just expand it without causing your body too much stress. I could act as a kind of bridge between the two of you.…"

"It's worth a …" Erik trailed off and turned his head north. The same direction in which he sensed a large metallic object slowly emerging from the from the ground several kilometres away. "…shot." Raven was familiar with Erik's subtle shifts and immediately tensed.

"Something coming?" She asked.

"Not airborne yet…but it will be soon…" Erik answered, he closed his eyes and focused on sensing the warhead "Feels like an ballistic missile….a Titan series I'd guess**…." He opened his eyes and looked at Charles "I'd say this is a good time to start this experiment."

* * *

><p>*Google Nevada nuclear dummy town<p>

**Ok so I'm not really a ballistic missiles expert and Erik is taking a stab in the dark when he guesses. Plus this is obviously an AU fantasy X-men universe. But seems likely that the US military would have been using either Alas or Titan series missiles in the mid 1960s. A good chunk of my info for this scene comes from a video called "How a Titan Nuclear Missile Launch Works" that I found on youtube. From what I understand once the launch sequence got past a certain point it was impossible to stop the missile …


	27. Good Doctors and Bad Patients

Beast secured the hatches and doors of the Blackbird, although it was unlikely to make any difference when the bomb hit. He didn't want any surprises boarding the Jet in the interim.

Erik and Celia sat down of the floor next to Charles. He touched his fingers to gently to each of their temples.

"Close your eyes and calm your minds….try to picture the energy fields around your body expanding…. "

Within moments a glittering light started to shimmer around Erik and Celia. The edges began to mingle with each other before merging and encompassing Charles, then spreading outwards to the rest of the occupants on the Blackbird until finally it formed a glimmering sphere around the jet itself. To Erik it was an odd sensation. This combined shield felt different from the one he had generated back at Omega, in short it felt alive….he could feel the air outside and the electric charge tickle the surface. Then all off a sudden the sensory element of the shield grew dim, swiftly followed by a numbness all over his body. It was painless but still disconcerting.

"Charles?" Erik questioned opening his eyes.

"I'm dulling both yours and Celia's sensory receptors…that should help when we get impact…. As your powers are going to be temporarily linked, you will likely feel the blow as well Erik, but Celia will be the most sensitive"

Erik looked over at Celia who formed a nervous part of their small triangle. She now had her eyes open as well.

"Give me your hand." Erik said extending his own to her palm face up.

"Why?"

"I want to make sure you don't run away and leave me holding the fort." Erik replied with a wink and a disarming smile.

Celia let out a short nervous laugh at Erik's ridiculous joke, but Charles felt the excess tension leave her body. Raven rolled her eyes at the comment. Only Erik could make a girl blush when she was on the brink of a fiery death.

This is why people follow him Charles thought. In the right mood he was genuinely pleasant to be around. Full of wit and clever conversation, he had charm in spades could be surprisingly empathetic, it was just that this quality was too often clouded by layers of anger or clinical strategising. _But he naturally knows what to say or do to make people believe in themselves_. Charles thought….that's why Raven left with him.

"It's airborne" Erik said suddenly, he felt Celia's grip tighten on his hand. "Just focus" he said to her. "Just focus on the shield and everything will be-" Erik's words were drowned something between sound and sensation. A destructive force that make the earth shake and the air burn shook him to his core collided with their shield, making him gasp like he'd been winded. For a while he could see nothing around him but the brightest, purest light, he thought for a moment that he must have died and entered the after life…but then he heard Pietro whimper and felt Celia's vice like grip on his hand again. The impossibly bright light filled that had filled Jet began to dissipate so that he could make out the forms of Raven, Beast and Pietro again, they were huddled on the floor. Raven cuddling Pietro protectively. The air was filled with the with the arid smell of burning. They'd survived the initial impact but the terrible weapon was far from completing it's destructive sequence.* Now Erik felt the nuclear fireball spread, causing the metal structures outside to warp and melt. Beside him heard Celia let out a cry like she'd been hit again and her breathing turn ragged with strain. Suddenly Erik felt Celia's part of the energy field waver and turned to look at her, the Doctor didn't look well at all.

"I feel like I'm burning- "

Erik squeezed her hand and locked eyes with her.

"It'll passes. Pain always passes. Just focus and breathe" Erik ordered trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. Erik wasn't sure he could hold the shield alone. He'd been feeling a lightheaded sensation creeping up on him since they'd created it, and he'd been trying to ignore it. Now something in his chest tightened and he ignored that too. If they could just ride out this secondary stage of the bomb, then the air burst would come next, and a few seconds after that, it would all be over. _Charles? _Erikasked telepathetically.

"I'm sorry Celia, this is the most I can do without mentally anaesthetising you" Charles answered aloud through gritted teeth, his own voice also containing some obvious strain.

Raven did not like the sound undertones in Charles and Erik's voice one bit. The jet was becoming hotter by the second and despite her faith in the two men, a horrible terror was growing within her that this might be their last few moments on earth….next to her Azazel began to groan.

"Turn ze heating off….it's too hot.."

On hearing his voice Mystique jumped to his side.

"Azazel!"

"Mysty turn ze heat down…..you and Angel always turn whole house to sauna…" Azazel muttered.

Mystique grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Azazel wake up!"

Azazel finally opened his eyes to focus on her and took in their predicament. He stared around him shock.

"I can't…I can't hold on…I'm sorry…" Celia whimpered as her portion of the shield diminished further. Erik doubled his efforts in order to compensate and felt the heaviness in his chest swiftly intensify. The air inside the Jet had now become uncomfortably hot and the lack of oxygen in the air was making it hard to breathe. Celia eyes began to loose focus. Erik released her hand and gripped her shoulder in an attempt to shake Celia back to the present.

"Hey! Hey stay with me!" Erik growled. Celia's eyes rolled back into her head as she lost consciousness. A look of panic spread across Charles' face and The shield shrunk considerably without a second generator. The tips of the Black Bird's wings melted, transferring even more heat into the cabin area. Erik poured everything he had into re-expanding the shield. The sensation in his chest turned into a painful tightness, then stabbing pains. He saw a look of horror spread over Charles' face and felt something wet on his lip.…the nose bleed was back.

"Vere are we? …. In hell?" Azazel stared out the window transfixed by the sight outside.

"In the middle of a nuclear fireball. Can you transport us all back to Westchester Mansion?" Raven asked. Azazel still looked stunned. Either from bump on his head or the information about his current whereabouts. He hadn't torn his eyes from the window.

"**Az?!**" Raven shouted again to get his attention. She really hoped that Erik hadn't given him a concussion. Azazel finally looked at her.

"I-I do not know this place" Azazel replied still sounding dazed. "I can only go to places I can see or I have been before. That is how my power vorks you know this…"

"I can help with that"….Charles said beaming a vision of Westchester into Azazel's mind.

That seemed to snap the teleported out his trance, his eyes took on a sharper focus and he disappeared in a puff of smoke with Raven, Hank and Pietro.

Erik felt suddenly that there was not enough air in the room for his lungs. He began to gasp trying in vain to fill them the pain in chest growing with every movement. He felt Charles' hand gripping his shoulder.

"Hold on my friend…we'll be back home soon." Charles said trying to sound reassuring but in truth he was beginning to panic - _what if Azazel doesn't come back? _But then the teleporter reappeared between Celia's unconscious form and Erik who now looked deathly pale and on the edge of passing out himself.

"Hang on Boss" Azael said as Erik's body finally gave out and the four of them disappeared in puff of smoke. The Jet crumpled into a mangled pile of melted metal seconds later.

* * *

><p><em>One week later<em>

Erik could only recall the events following the excursion to Arizona in broken fragments…Charles standing over him, hitting him in the chest. A laboratory…or maybe medical unit…with Moria _shocking_ him in the chest with some device that made his chest hurt even more than whatever Charles had been doing. Raven crying. Pietro crying. Azazel shouting. Beast shouting…why on earth was everyone shouting? He wished they'd all go away and let him sleep…he was so tired..more tired than could ever remember being….but they all wanted him to stay awake…why? Then he'd finally gotten his wish, and the blackness had descended. It had lasted for days and days. A void of drugged sleep….until eventually he drifted upwards….back to consciousness…back to pain…

Erik felt awful. His whole body hurt and he felt weak. He hated feeling weak. He forced himself to open his eyes, even though those hurt too. He was in the medical bay with a dozen tubes, wires and monitoring machines connected to his body. Raven was asleep in a chair next to to him, her head in her arms and slumped over the bed. Erik tried to say her name but found his voice too hoarse to rouse her, so he gently ran his fingers through her fiery red hair. Raven stirred.

"Erik..?" Raven whispered the sound was so laced with hope and disbelief that Erik was taken aback.

"….The others…Pietro, Charles, Celia- "

"They're all ok…well more or less" Raven reassured him reaching our and stroking his hair "Thanks to you…. Celia was a bit weak and she was resting in the bed next to you until yesterday.." Erik could see she had tears forming in her eyes "I'm so glad you're ok!" She sobbed, suddenly engulfing him in a hug. Erik summoned what he could of his strength and gave her an awkward pat on the back with the arm that wasn't trapped between his own body and hers. After a moment or two she pulled back slightly to look at him. They were still close, almost nose to nose and she was looking at him with a kind of reverence, gazing at him in a way that made it hard to sort his thoughts into words, but he had a lot of questions that he needed answers to…and he felt somewhat awkward under her scrutiny. In an attempt to normalise the mood he tilted his head and grinned mockingly, it was a paler version of his full wolfish grin, but one of his none the less.

"You should take a picture my dear….it will last longer" He teased The gesture was almost more brotherly than romantic but to Raven it put Erik's lips within irresistible reach. She impulsively cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. him, pouring all the emotion of the past days from herself into him. The kiss crashed over him like a torrent pulling him and closing his eyes and senses to the world around him.

Erik was so disorientated by the situation that for awhile he was a passive recipient, allowing Raven to manipulate his tongue and lips with her own. He was just about gathering his wits enough to return the kiss when he heard the compression of air and smelt smoke. Raven broke the kiss and pulled away looking mortified. The newly created gap between them gave Erik a full view of an awkward looking Azazel, who quickly turned his back on the pair like a true gentleman.

"Ah boss you are _busy_….. I come back later..Good to see you up."

"No!" Raven shouted sounding a tad hysterical she jumped up and headed to the door. The two men looked at her. "I mean it's **fine **Az" She looked more purple than blue, which meant Raven was blushing. "I'll go tell Charles you're awake..and-and Pietro! He-he's been so worried!" with that she almost ran from the bay. They both watched her leave. Erik continued to stare at the door dumbfounded until Azazel broke his trance by walking over to him clapping him on the shoulder affectionately.

"I am glad to see you back with us. Mystique been very worried…but I guess you know that _already_ no?" Azazel said with a wink which left Erik uncharacteristically speechless "We all worry for you of course.." Azazel continued feeling perhaps that it was a bit unfair to tease Erik too much in his current condition "How you feel now boss?"

Erik was grateful that he didn't ask anymore questions about himself and Raven.

"Like I've been run over with a car….and then a train…and then a tank…"

Azazel laughed loud and genuine. Over the past year Erik had found in Azazel a man with similar values to himself and tentative friendship. Azazel had been working in a Soviet military division before he'd joined up with Shaw and had lost several comrades to a precursor of the CIA, which was part of the reason he'd been particularly vicious when Hellfire club attacked their head quarters over a year ago. Erik had dispensed far too many of his old enemies to pass judgement on a man with a grudge. Azazel was certainly deadly, but despite appearances he was also surprisingly level headed, generally polite and apparently loyal.

"This good. Feeling pain first sign of healing." Azazel smirked. "Mystique fill me in on situation."

"What did she say?" Erik asked warily, simultaneously switching to Russian. He hoped to subconsciously convince Azazel to converse with him in his native tongue rather than in broken English. However these attempts were always futile. Azazel liked to practice his English and would continue talking to Erik in "American" regardless of the language Erik chose to speak. This gave the teleporter's conversation a weird mix of Russian grammar, English words, military lingo and (what Erik considered) hideous American slang picked up from overexposure to Angel and Mystique's gossip sessions.

"That you have slight …er problem with talking to metal now."

"I see." Erik said disgruntled. Great(!) Now _everyone_ knew. He thought staring at the ceiling.

"So is true…." Azazel said quietly studying Erik. The man didn't reply, but his silence was as good as a vocal confirmation.

Erik suddenly decided he didn't want to be in the room anymore or hooked up to the machines. He began forcing himself up to a sitting position. The movement made him feel ill and set all the infernal contraptions bleeping incessantly.

"Woah Boss! Is not good idea get out of bed." Said Azazel teleporting to his side. "Doctor say you're very ill. You have heart attack. Heart stop for ten whole minutes when we arrive here. Everyone think you dead…Then doctor manage to revive you…."

Erik listened to council for once and stopped moving when he'd managed to sit up in bed.

"Well that explains why I feel God Awful..The doctor..? I thought Celia was unconscious?"

"Other Doctor… used to be with CIA".

"McTaggert…"

"Yes" Azazel nodded. "That one."

Erik frowned. Somewhere deep down knew he should feel grateful to Moria, but his immediate reaction was irritation at now owing her a considerable favour.

"She's not a doctor….she's a …_medical student_" Erik muttered, though even to his own ears he sounded like a petulant child. Azazel shrugged, a medic was a medic. What was in a title?

"You and Myst….you are….how they say in American 'going steady' ? The others and I were…never too sure…." He asked.

"Excuse me-?!" Erik spluttered, he had no idea how to answer that question…of course he knew Raven **had** been attracted to him…and yes he **was** attracted to her… he'd caught himself admiring her a few times….noticing how strong and powerful she'd become in her own right…. he _did_ like strong women…But base attraction wasn't the same as the desire to start a relationship. He'd put the attraction on her side down to impaired judgment…what else would you call a girlish crush and a drunken kiss? She certainly hadn't seemed keen on the idea of exploring any further romantic possibilities with him in cold light of day,after she'd sobered up in Munich…and honestly he didn't blame her. He hadn't made much success of any of his personal relationships and he had no desire to see her hurt, so he hadn't pressed the issue even though he'd been sorely tempted to. After all what was he offering anyway? With Magda the goal had always been marriage…a family….and what a horrendous mess that he managed turn that into. No, it was better for the Brotherhood if they kept things uncomplicated anyway. He had no idea that the others already suspected them of being in a relationship….

Azazel took notice of the lengthy silence "Ah.. I ask wrong question….. Forget it. None of my business. Not polite."

There followed a few moments of awkward silence before Erik cleared his throat and attempted a change of subject.

"The shield worked then…It held?"

"Yeah held pretty good boss. Thanks for not leaving me outside to get sun tan. Could have done without the headache though." he said smirking and touching the bump on near his temple.

"If you inform me of an easier way to incapacitate you while you're trying to slice me to pieces, I'll be sure to use it the next time someone decides to turn you into their homicidal puppet…" Erik said grumpily.

Erik had not meant it as a joke but Azazel laughed again, and the sound lightened Erik's mood. For all of his fierceness, Azazel had a surprising warmth to him, that had often eased the tension in his team mates.

"Besides I'm sure you'll pay me back next time we spar…" Erik said managing a smirk. His eyes fell to swords strapped to Azazel's back "Unarmed of course…hardly a fair fight if….if…you're armed…?"

"Something up boss?" Azazel asked puzzled by the way Erik had trailed off.

Erik stared at the blades. Something was missing from the edge of his consciousness…after puzzling for a while he realised what it was - he couldn't sense them! He couldn't sense their **metal!** A rising panic gripped him, his eyes darted around room at the medical equipment, he couldn't sense the metal in any of the objects in the room or beyond…. It was one was one thing not to be able to call to anything metallic without consequences…but now not being able to even sense objects was even more worrying….He felt off balance like someone had cut off a limb while he'd been sleeping.

"…I can't - I can't feel them….your blades…they're **metal** and I can't **feel** them…!"

Azazel frowned at Erik's wild eyed expression.

"You just wake up boss… maybe you still recovering. Try to relax…yes? I not think you should be getting too worked up after heart attack…" He put a hand on Erik'd shoulder to try to stop him from sitting up again.

" -" Erik said his mood suddenly darkening "it's that woman's doing! She's the one who's been treating me….she's given me something I know it!"

"McTaggert?" Azazel asked confused "How could she do this boss?"

"She couldn't." The voice came Charles Xavier who'd appeared in the doorway, along with Moria McTaggert.

"What have you done to me?!" Erik growled. He looked like a caged animal ready to attack.

"She's done nothing Erik. Apart from save your life. Calm down." Charles said his voice still calm but hardening. He was tired of Erik's hostility to Moria.

"Is true boss." Azalea chimed in, much to everyone's surprise. "You maybe not be here now without her help"

Erik looked somewhat less murderous, but his eye's still bore into Moria's. Who returned his stare with a fiery one of her own.

"You did it to yourself Erik-Magneto-or whatever you're calling yourself these days! Celia and I both warned about using your powers. You gave yourself a transient ischemic attack, brought on by an episode of cardiac arrest." She shoved the folder she was holding into Charles' lap "You can explain it to him!" She snapped at Charles before turning on her heel and stalking out of the room. "Looks like a 'Thanks for resuscitating my sorry arrogant ass' was too much to expect! But by the way you're welcome Erik!" She called over her shoulder as she left the medical bay.

Erik scowled.

"She's right. You could have said thank you". Charles said, he had that hard look on his face again.

Erik did what he normally did with pieces of information or opinions that he didn't like and ignored Charles.

"So I had a heart attack…..and a stroke of sorts.." He summarised. ".…which caused some other problems….but that doesn't explain why I can't sense any metal. Give me the medical file." Erik demanded stretching out his hand to Xavier expectantly.

Charles wheeled himself closer to the bed and handed Erik the file with a questioning glance at Azazel. Obviously wondering what he should reveal in front of the teleporter.

"If McTagget knows then discretion is pointless **now** isn't it?" Erik hissed reading Charles' expression. "I trust Azazel more than any homo-sapien you can speak freely in front of him."

Erik flipped the folder open and tried to read it, but his eyes couldn't seem to focus and try as he might the words on the paper remained blurry. Stupid girl had probably pumped him with too many drugs.

"Moria saved your life. Stop talking about her like she's your enemy."

"They're all the enemy Charles." Erik could feel his temper building, but it was Charles' turn to look furious. Then just as quickly, something else replaced the emotion on Charles' features. It was the look that Charles got before he announced checkmate whenever they played chess together.

"Really **all** of them?" Charles asked smoothly.

"Hey Boss…" Azazel said with an air of awkwardness "Why don't I go check on Raven? Leave you two to talk. I come back later, ok?" Then suddenly he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

With the teleporter gone Erik's attention returned to Charles. "**All** of them"

"What about your daughters?"

Erik's eyes narrowed, that was a low blow.

"Anya is dead. If she'd lived she'd probably have been like us."

"You don't **know** that though do you? Pietro's sister may not be like us."

"Pietro's sister.." Erik said dangerously quiet "..may very well be dead too." After a pause Erik continued "I don't want to talk about my daughters Charles. Now tell me what's affecting my senses before I run out patience."

Charles shook his head, wondering how they could dissolve in an argument again so quickly. He thought about asking Erik if he'd class his mother and father as enemies if they'd been alive since they clearly weren't mutants either, but he decided against it.

"You have brain damage" Charles sighed tossing Erik the folder.

"What?"

"When your heart stopped it caused an lack of oxygen to your brain. We did some brain scans and it seems that you have some dark spots in your in the area of your brain that we believe is responsible for controlling your powers. Oddly you are still generating the shield so that means you haven't completely destroyed your abilities. Moria, Celia and Beast believe you'll heal and regain them when the neutrons in your brain fully regenerate….but we aren't sure how long…the current estimates are ranging somewhere between six months and a year…"

"What?!"

"In the meantime getting yourself worked up isn't going to help." Charles said firmly. Like that would stop Erik.

* * *

><p>In the sanctuary of her old room, Raven paced up and down, trying to figure out what she could to say to Erik to convince him that she wasn't a pathetic lovestruck idiot. Kissing him in the medical bay was the most embarrassing thing she had done to date. The man clearly had no romantic interest in her, and here she was throwing herself at him like a desperate fool. At least in Munich he'd returned the kiss, but this time he hadn't done a thing. He probably feels sorry for me she thought. A silly little girl who was incapable of looking after herself without either his own or Charles' protection. She found the thought of Erik pitying her made her feel quite ill. She stopped pacing and flopped down on the window seat feeling dejected.<p>

"At least he's awake now…" She reminded herself. She found that it made her feel a little better. Her eyes came to rest on a teenage photo of Charles and herself sitting on the small chest of drawers next to her. She picked it up and examined it whimsically. A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. She felt a stab of panic. What if it was Erik? She couldn't face him yet. But Charles wouldn't let him out of bed so soon surely? It couldn't be him….

"Myst? You in there?" Azazel's voice called from behind the door.

Mystique released the breath that she had been holding.

"Yeah, come in."

Azazel opened the door and entered, quickly closing it behind him. He'd been on edge ever since they got to the mansion. Beast, Havock and Banshee had made no attempt to hide their dislike for him, but while there was an undercurrent of hostility, Raven was comforted by the thought that Charles would never allow an outbreak of violence, especially after Azazel had effectively saved all their lives. However she understood that Azazel didn't know Charles like she did, and consequently the only times she'd seen Azazel relax since they'd arrived back at her old home was when he was alone with her behind a closed door.

"So this is place where you grow up?" the teleported asked.

"Yeah…" Raven replied setting the photo back in it's place. "..It feels weird to be back here...after everything that's happened…I thought Charles would have given my room away…but he's kept everything exactly the way it was…"

"Is nice. You have very big home." Azazel said joining her on the window seat.

"**Charles** has a very big home" she corrected.

"Is both your homes no?"

Raven frowned.

"I don't know...I guess it _became_ more my home when Charles' Mom and step father weren't around anymore and I didn't have to hide. The house passed to him when he was nineteen and I was around sixteen…."

Azazel tipped his head to the side confused.

"Hide?"

"Hide. I told you and Angel the story before remember…" One hot summer's night the air conditioning unit the brotherhood's Vegas headquarters had broken. Angel, Azazel and herself had been the only members there at the time. The others were away on a mission. The oppressive heat had prevented any sleep, so they had passed the night drinking, playing poker and swapping stories. Angel had talked a lot, Raven a little and Azazel had mostly listened….and relieved them of their money…. but at the end of night she had felt closer to both of them. Close enough to tell them how she met Charles. But perhaps Azazel had forgotten the story as quickly as he's heard it..or… "Or were you too drunk to remember? There was a lot of Vodka that night…"

"I remember….You said you sneak in looking for food and Xavier become your brother, invite you to stay with him forever, you say he tell you not worry about anything anymore. The Xavier's they adopt you, yes?"

Raven sighed she supposed she had been rather sketchy on the details of her childhood, and it was natural for the other's to simply assume. "The Xavier's never adopted me. Charles' parents never knew I existed."

Azazel's brow knitted together in confusion. "How this possible…?…You live in their house for years no?"

"Well….it's a **very** big house. They had several servants, and the Xavier's were almost never home. To top it off Kurt didn't like spending time with his step-son and Charles practically had his own wing." Raven explained, Azazel still looked confused. Raven sighed again decided to spell it out in detail "At first I hid in Charles' room, he would sneak food up to me. Later we took turns I would change form so I looked like Charles then eat meals with his parents. Sometimes I'd pretend to be another member of staff or one of Charles' parents, so we could walk about together. By the time Charles left for boarding school that autumn I could maintain the transformations for longer. With some planning I was able to have free run of the estate."

"You do this for long time…. till you are teenager?"

"Until I was sixteen, or there abouts…" She'd never been two sure of her exact birthday and her age had always been an estimation "Charles inherited the estate. Then he hired a bunch of new staff who knew nothing about the estate and introduced me to them as his sister."

"That is …a very sad story"

Mystique looked up at him surprised. "What makes you say that?"

"You were young child, forced to act like you didn't exist.."

Raven shrugged "It was better than living on the streets. Better than being hunted down by Nazi's then being beaten, starved and tortured…..better than being sent to an insane asylum too…."

Azazel looked at her empathically. "Yes… those stories too, are very sad.."

Raven sighed and got up.

"Yeah well pity parties never got anyone anywhere… Besides I'm sure you had it pretty rough yourself growing up" She gave him sympathetic smile.

Azazel looked mildly confused again then shook his head slowly.

"I had very happy childhood. Good parents. Good grandparents. Good wife…my life not get unhappy until I get much older."

Raven's eyebrows raised to ceiling. The man never talked about his past, but she's assumed that he's always been a loner. Shunned from society, feared and ostracised from a young age as she had been.

Azazel laughed softly at her expression, but there seemed to be some sadness in the still. Sadness Raven sensed was directed at her.

"Not every group of people think those who look different are evil or to be feared. The people of my village…they followed the old ways…a faith that existed before the Tsars or the revolution….beliefs and traditions as old as earth itself. A way of life that honours the ancestors and the land. They told tales of people and creatures who could do magic…. such people were regarded as having great blessings bestowed upon them by heaven…"

Mystique looked at him in wonder…. She and Charles had loved fairy stories as kids. Not fairy** tales **(for those were watered down versions of the real stories). What they'd loved were the darker unedited folklore stories about fae and changelings and the otherworld. Stories about people who looked different and had special powers, and became heroes…stories that could well be about them. Now her in her room among those books containing those stories was someone from a place where people believed those stories were true " Tell me about your village Az…" Raven asked softly unable to stop herself sounding like child begging for a bedtime story.

Azazel chuckled quietly and shook his head as if he was now laughing at himself for some reason. "You know… this is not usually story I share… but for you.." he said pausing and giving Raven a look that for some reason made her blush and look down…. "For you I think I will share…."

* * *

><p>Now alone in the medical bay, Erik glared at the ceiling as though that too had offended him. Inevitably he and Charles had ended up in another shouting match. It had been a spectacular row even by their standards, Erik reflected. The subjects somehow evolving from his medical condition, to Charles' relationship with Moria, to his "bad influence" of Raven, then to Pietro, then to their opposing politics. Only finally ending when Erik had started gasping for air and clutching his chest and the machines started beeping again.<p>

Hank had come and put something in his IV (probably some sort of opiate) which had made him feel floaty and downgraded his emotions from enraged to just mildly irritated.

He shut his eyes and let out a shuddering breath, he had to get a grip on his emotions. He didn't **want** them to keep rowing, constantly at each other's throats. He was profoundly grateful that everyone had survived the mission to Arizona unscathed. He wouldn't have forgiven any of them hadn't made it back. He needed to tell Charles thank you for helping him to generate the shield, that but the damn man was always pushing his buttons.

Erik pulled his eyes away from the ceiling and took in his surroundings, trying to find something else to focus on. The medical bay had been partitioned into several recovery rooms. An operating theatre and a small clinic. The recovery rooms (one of which Erik was now occupying) all looked very similar to private rooms on a hospital ward. They were furnished with a single bed which faced outwards towards an internal window overlooking the main corridor.

Erik saw a mop of white hair bob past the glass panel of the medical bay door, it was followed by soft knock a the door.

"Enter." Erik answered.

The door opened a crack and Pietro poked his head around hesitantly. On seeing Erik his face fell, a wave of anxiety rippled through his features. Erik frowned. Maybe he thinks I'm still angry about catching him on the plane? Erik thought. In all honesty, Erik was now just relived everyone had escaped the incident alive, but he should probably still give boy a talking to.

"Come in then. And shut the door you're causing draft. I trust you don't want to finish me off with pneumonia"

A flash of panic showed on his son's face and the boy quickly closed the door. He swallowed and walked over to Erik's bed, resting his hands on the bar of the bed, his eyes solemnly tracing the wires attached to Erik's body. They lingered over the oxygen tube attached to Erik's nose and the IV coming out of Erik's arm. Erik realised that he must look a real state. Pietro was looking at him like he was on his death bed, the boy's bottom lip started to quiver. Erik felt his own anxiety start to rise. For all of his disciplinarianism he'd always crumbled whenever Anya broke out in a flood of tears., and now Pietro now seemed on the brink of that, and he was suddenly desperate to stop the boy's emotions escalating, but he didn't know what to say.

"Does it hurt?" Pietro asked in a small voice, breaking the silence and gesturing to IV drip protruding from the back of Erik's hand.

Erik flexed his hand analytically and looked at it. "This doesn't….the rest of my body however…."

"Do want me to get you anything?" Pietro inquired keen to do anything he could to help Erik.

"A trip to the future…where everything doesn't hurt." He managed to get Pietro to crack a smile. Even if it did look somewhat watery "…and a promise not to stowaway on any more missions." Erik added sternly.

"I didn't stowaway! I was just…just…" Pietro faltered mid sentence while trying think up an appropriate lie.

"**Don****'****t** do it again." Erik said with a glare.

Pietro swallowed and nodded quickly. Then a small smile appeared on his face.

"The way you built that shield was pretty cool…"

Erik raised a sleepy eyebrow. He wasn't at all keen on Pietro's daredevil ways…but this new dimension to his powers did fascinate him.

"I suppose it was…" Erik felt a smile tug on his own lips "Just don't expect another demonstration anytime soon." He reached out and tousled Pietro's hair.

"I won't." Pietro said rewarding Erik with his first anxiety free smile since he'd entered Erik's room.

"Well why don't you sit down and tell me what have you been doing with yourself while I've been asleep? Staying out of trouble I hope?"

"Uh-huh, I've been a regular goody two shoes. Scout's honour."

Erik harboured no illusions about Pietro ever being a scout.

"Have you ever even met a scout master?"

"Sure, lots of them"

"Of course..."

* * *

><p>*Scientific disclaimer…apparently nuclear fireballs can last up to 10 minutes depending on the size of the bomb _<p>

Thanks again for the comments on the last chapter guys

me: Aww thankyou! I'm trying to stay as true to the characters as possible (well the First Class versions at any rate as I started writing this before DoFP came out).

scifi girl: There IS more Raven coming up :3

anon: Thanks for your comments. This is definitely a whump story! In fact it's over riding theme is variations on Erik Whump and Pietro Whump. And there's way more to come before it ends.. I might even have to put whump in the story description

feathered moon wings: Hmm I will maybe write a short buddy story where Charles gets injured and Erik has to help him after I finish this one.

Lizeyli: Awww thankyou ^.^ Wandacentricness is on the horizon.

Zerousy: Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

Cecile Icon: Glad that you are still reading :) I will try to not make gaps between posting quite so long ;)


	28. Lessons and Language

_Warning pure fluff ahead.._..

_Short update in which Erik is OCD about language, because he never does anything by halves._

_This was scene was meant to be part of the last chapter but that was getting so long that I just wanted to post it already._

* * *

><p>"Sure you don't want me to get you anything?"<p>

Pietro asked plonking himself on to the chair next to Erik's bed, simultaneously slipping his school backpack off and tossing it on the bedside table.

"I know -chocolate!" Pietro exclaimed before Erik could reply again and started rummaging through his backpack, spilling school supplies and books on to the small table.

"What?" Erik asked, more perplexed than usual by his son's behaviour.

"You're supposed to bring sick people chocolate and flowers in hospital right? I got a Hershey bar in here somewhere…here it is!" He said triumphantly retrieving it and tossing it to Erik. "I'll bring you some flowers next time…"

Erik chuckled at Pietro's relentless determination to make him feel better.

"Don't trouble yourself….I don't want you raiding Charles' rose beds…" One of the books that Pietro had dumped on the table caught Erik's eye and he picked it up attempting to read the title. He squinted at it but his vision still wasn't right. Another adverse side effect from the temporary lack of oxygen to his brain. Hopefully that would right itself soon… After staring at the cover for a time he just about made out the words: "Oliver Twist". Erik flipped it open and tried to read the small print, but much to his frustration his eyes refused to focus. Being in bed was going to be extremely tedious if he couldn't read….he might even go a tad mad…left alone with just his thoughts for hours on end…Maybe he could ask Celia to medically induce another comma until his vision sorted itself out. He couldn't contemplate watching the rubbish that was on television for hours and hours either.

"You ok?" Pietro asked noting Erik's knotted brow " I mean I know you're not **ok**, but - "

"I've thought of a way you can make yourself useful. Read me some of this.… Maybe I can bother Charles for a radio later if he ever ventures back down here again.." Erik said holding the book out to Pietro.

Pietro's face fell. He looked at the book like it was bomb.

"What's the matter?" Erik asked puzzled by the look of horror on Pietro's face.

"N-nothing…" Pietro forced himself to take the book "You uh…want me to read it… like right now?"

"Well that was the idea…" Erik gave Pietro an accessing look "You **can** read can't you?"

"Course!" Pietro lied. Flipping open the book at the first page. Desperately trying to think of a way out of his predicament. "But-uh…don't you want to eat your candy bar first?"

"I'll save it for later. After you've read the first chapter to me." Erik said now scrutinising him. Pietro knew he had made a mistake, instead of distracting Erik he'd made the man turn that laser like focus his way. Even in hospital and on some heavy medication Erik had sixth sense that made him see right past any deception.

Pietro cleared his throat and focused on the first page. Praying that the letters would magically make sense. They didn't. He felt Erik's eyes on him. Then an idea occurred to Pietro - he'd make it up. It was a kid's book anyway right? Erik probably hadn't even read it. Pietro took a deep breath and began confidently:

"There once was a kid named Oliver, his last name was Twist. He grew up in England. Which is **real** far away. He lived with his parents in a biiiig house, made of…uh…. Ginger bread….One day a witch turned up on the doorstep and turned both is parents into frogs… "

Pietro risked a glance at Erik. Who was watching him with raised eyebrows.

"Well well…" Erik drawled "That story certainly has changed since I was a boy."

Pietro could feel his face turning red. "You've uh read it before?"

"Several times."

Pietro looked back down at the pages. Now everyone was going to know he was stupid. He wished he could just melt into the floor or teleport out the room. Perhaps he could run-

"Start again."

"Huh?" Pietro looked up.

"Start again." Erik repeated simply. He didn't sound angry. "Read words on the** page** this time. Not the ones in your **head**"

Pietro swallowed. "I can't….I can't…read" he felt his face burn.

"Try." Erik ordered.

"-but I can't-"

"-Start with the first word, break down the letters and sound it out." Magda had been an avid reader, maybe even more so than he was. Their taste in books differed greatly but not their passion for them. They both encouraged Anya from an early age, and Erik knew there was no way she would have neglected her son's education. He was sure Pietro could at the very least read and write the alphabet and pronounce letters.

Pietro's brow furrowed. He sounded out the first real word with serious effort. Erik corrected the sounds and words where he stumbled and gave him the sounds of the English characters when he pronounced the Cyrillic ones by mistake. The boy eventually and somewhat painstakingly made it through a whole sentence.

"You see, you can do it. The rest is only practice….and attempting the task honestly instead of making up nonsense."

"But I sound like a _dummy_…..and it takes me all day…it doesn't take any other of the kids that long…and they don't get confused….I don't even know half the letters!….Erik…don't tell anyone…._please_?"

"Pietro…your teachers will have to know. I don't even understand how you've been able to hide this for so long."

"**Please!** Scotty can't know about this!" Pietro pleaded desperately jumping down from the chair and griping the bars on Erik's bed again. "Everyone's gonna tease me for being a dunce!"

Erik sighed.

"Pietro you are not a dunce. You are merely confusing the sounds of your Russian alphabet with the sounds of the English one. Which has caused other problems for you. A new language is not something the other children have had to contend with. You have done quite well to learn English in such a short space of time and yet still remember your native tongue."

"…Thanks… but the others will still think I'm stupid." Pietro said looking at his hands, though it helped a bit that a least Erik didn't think he was a moron. Erik looked at Pietro's dejected posture and then sighed again, this time in defeat. He was going soft….

"Alright."

"Alright what?" Pietro asked confused.

"Alright I won't tell any one about your…_situation_."

"Does that mean you won't tell any one I can't read?"

"Yes" Erik clarified. A smile spread over Pietro's face. "But you **are** going to learn. I will not have my- I will not have _you_, remaining illiterate. Tomorrow you will find a copy of a Russian and English dictionary in the library and you will bring them here, and together we will rectify this problem."

"You're going to teach me to read?" Pietro said still smiling.

"I am going to teach you to read _English_. I suspect you already know how to read Russian, or did at some point, but you have had no occasion to practice and so you have somewhat forgotten the skill. Nevertheless I will need some way to assess that, you will also find a Russian book in Charles' library. So we can practice that."

"Hey wait- why do I have to read Russian books too? I only need to learn to read this _one_ for class…" Pietro protested holding up the book his smile faltering, he seemed to have unwittingly signed up for a ton more homework. It would be great getting to spend more time with Erik, but he wasn't sure about all this extra stuff the man was expecting from him. "Look I'm not real into books….I just want to know enough so that I don't look like a pinhead in class. You don't have to turn me into a genius or nothing."

"Or _anything__" _Erik corrected. " 'A genius or _anything_' Your grammar is atrocious. We will need to correct that too. Otherwise it will start to affect your writing…. and don't use that word either… slang makes you sound…._common_."

"What word? _Pinhead_…but it's not cussing- "

"-It's a made-up word that doesn't exist in the dictionary, so in effect it has no meaning -if you use words with _no meaning_ then you can never _mean_ what you say, and a gentleman should _always_ mean what he says."

" ….'kay…." Pietro answered now wondering if it was possible to talk Erik _out_ of helping him, but judging by the zealous look on Erik's face… probably not. It was the same look the man had when he'd talked about breaking out of Omega…..and… Erik wasn't the sort of guy you talked out of stuff….Ms McTaggart and the rest of his teachers were nowhere near as picky about the way he spoke….in fact none of his teachers had been, and the ones at the orphanage had been happy to let him daydream at the back of the class while they went through motions….Pietro swallowed, something told him he'd have no such luck in Erik's lessons….


	29. Bonding

"Come, I show you where I grew up". Azazel said standing and beckoning Raven to follow with a jerk of his head.

"I don't know if I'm feeling up to a trip to the USSR Azazel…" Raven said warily.

"Neither do I…" Azazel replied walking over to the globe sitting on Raven's old desk. "I'm still a little sore from Emma's big exit." He said rubbing his lower back "I meant, I show you on this."

"Oh…I see." She said walking over to join him.

"My village here" He said tapping the Caucasus mountain range in Eastern Europe. "When I was born it was still very hard place to get to… very remote…It's name, in English means _Village of the Magicians__…_

When I grew up there were many people in my village who had special gifts. Some could hear thoughts like Mr Xavier and Emma…others could make things move like Magento. Some looked ordinary…others… " Azazel waved a hand at himself, a small smile on his face. "…different…"

"And they accepted the ones that didn't look normal?"

"Normal is… _relative_ term. But yes. Outcasting children because they looked different…this was never considered. Maybe because of remoteness of our village…our gene pool was smaller and any …how you say? _Recessive_ x-genes became more… _common_. Most people in village were related to someone who looked different or had special gift…and why would you fear your family? Besides the ones with magic protected the rest from bandits and other threats. Our village had been there for centuries… maybe even millennia…and the elders say that our tribe had been there even longer…and the old stories say that we were descended from the forest spirits…"

"If you were accepted there why did you leave?" Raven asked feeling a pang of jealously, if she'd been lucky enough to be a surrounded by a whole community that not only accepted but exalted her as a child she'd certainly never have left.

"I was young and curious about the world…and by the time I was teenager I was bored and restless with life in village. Merchants would sometimes pass through our village Have you heard of the Silk Road?"

Raven shook her head. History wasn't her thing.

"It is -_was_- trading route that unites Europe and Asia.. part of route ran through the Caucasus mountains and passed close to my village. Sometimes merchants stopped at village inn for night. Of course, when outsiders came the ones like myself had to disguise ourselves or hide. I used to put on clock and hood and ask them questions about their journeys. They told me tales of the life outside the village…there were many things I wanted to see and experience for myself…"

"What about your wife.. you said you were married? …Is she still at the village?…Did she come with you when you left?"

Azazel didn't look at her for a while, he stared at the globe his fingers tracing the over the mountain range. "No." He answered finally.

"What happened?"

"Shaw."

Raven opened her mouth to ask another question but Azazel continued.

"But that is… story for another time I think."

Raven shut her mouth again. Badgering Azazel for personal information when he wasn't in a mood to share was pointless. He was even more cagey than Erik in that regard. After some time passed she sighed and turned her attention to another equally troubling subject.

"Azazel we have to find the Angel and Janos and tell them the truth about what Emma did."

"I know…but _how_ to find them? And what to do about Emma when we do.…? We had narrow escape last time."

"Perhaps we can borrow Erik's helmet?"

"You think he'll agree to this?"

"I didn't say we should _ask_ him. Besides it's not like he'll be using it anytime soon…and he doesn't even really need it anymore…"

"You make good point….We borrow for short time yes, and leave note maybe?"

Raven smiled innocently. " Exactly."

"Maybe you could try asking your brother for help again also. It would give us place to start and he maybe in better mood now…"

"I doubt it." While Erik was still unconscious she had asked Charles for help in locating and warning the other Brotherhood members. Charles had refused initially stating that Cerebro was still broken and he couldn't be of any assistance. Later he'd walked in on her and Azazel when she was making the same request of Hank. Even the mere memory of the conversation left her feeling irritated ..

"_Raven.. Perhaps it would be best if you just forgot about the others__…" __Charles had said.__" __You and Erik got mixed up with a bad crowd, and this is the perfect opportunity to distance yourself from them.__"_

"_**Mixed up?!**__" __She__'__d asked incredulously. How could Charles be so sincere yet condescending and naive at the same time? __"__Erik was their __**leader**__, he was the one doing the __'__mixing__'__!__" __The idea that Erik could ever be peer pressured into anything was almost funny. __"__We were a family- well close to one.. and obviously not Emma__…__but Angel and Janos were true friends. I__'__m not just going to walk away from that! I__'__m certainly not going to __**forget**__ about them! __" __She__'__d spat at him disgusted __"__How can could even say that?!__"_

"_I __**forbid**__ you to go looking for those-those- __" __Charles had stuttered unsure what to describe them as . __**Criminals**__ would have been apt, but he settled for something more diplomatic __"__**People**__.__" __He managed to make the noun sound like a dirty word._

"_She is not child.__" __Azazel spoke up from where he__'__d been leaning against the wall, watching the exchange. __"__You cannot not tell her what to do__…__or where to go.__"_

_Charles had narrowed his eyes at Azazel. __"__**Mr**__ Azazel, __I am grateful for __what you did for us back in Arizona__,__ and if you feel the need to track down your __'__friends__'__, then that is __**entirely**__ your business__…" __Raven felt her eye twitch. Charles only used formal titles when he was about to say something insulting __"__..but I will __**not**__ let you corrupt my sister or elope with her on some kamikaze mission to join a group of outlaws!__"_

_Raven had been about to burst into a furious tirade in defence of their friends when Azazel had simply shrugged and said __"__People with __**easy**__ lives are often narrow minded.__"_

_Raven had actually been taken aback by the dark look on Charles__' __face and quickly suggested to Azazel that they return the medical bay to keep watch over Erik. She had a horrible suspicion that Azazel might have spent the rest of his life thinking he was a Koala if she hadn__'__t._

The conversation with Charles hadn't progressed much past that point and Raven doubted it ever would. Raven sighed - she had a talent for attaching herself to the most impossible of men. Right now she wasn't keen on any more conversations with either Erik or Charles. Raven pulled a stash of writing paper from her desk and began scribbling two farewell letters. One to her brother, and one to Erik. She'd ask Azazel to deliver Erik's one, even though it was cowardly. Maybe in a couple weeks she'd be able to face him in person…but she couldn't contemplate doing it now.

* * *

><p>It had been four weeks since Raven and Azazel had departed in search of Emma and left Erik behind. Erik, having been judged relatively physically stable by Celia, had been allowed to relocate from the medical bay to the guest cottage in the grounds of the mansion. He still felt faint when he got up too fast and breathless when walked too far and seemed to spend more time sleeping than he could remember. To start with he needed use a wheel chair to move more than a hundred metres at a time. But at least his vision had returned to normal and there were other signs that he was healing. After another scan Celia had also informed him that the darkspots in his brain had reduced in size, although much to Erik's chagrin he still couldn't feel any metal.<p>

Raven and Azazel had not yet managed to track down their former team mates, but had managed to retrieve a portion of the Brotherhood's funds from the numerous Sparbuch* and Swiss bank accounts that Erik had spread them over (Azazel had transported the funds back alone - somewhat to Erik's disappointment - then quickly returned to Raven in Europe). It transpired that Emma had relieved them of half the money, but her ignorance and Erik's meticulous planning had safeguarded the rest of the funds. Erik's Nazi hunting days had made him something of an expert in money laundering and he'd learnt the importance of having a contingency plan early in life. One should **never** put all their eggs in once basket. So the sum remaining after Emma's plundering still left Raven, Azazel and Erik as three rather wealthy individuals (for the first time in her life Raven had more disposable income than Charles). However Erik now needed to figure out something new to do with the wads of cash that he'd stashed under the bed in the guest cottage's spare room. Ideally he should reinvest it, but with all the attention both he and the Brotherhood had received lately from the US Government and the Soviets he wasn't sure if it was wise to deposit the cash in a new set of numbered Swiss accounts. If _he_ could track Nazis through the Swiss banking system then the US government could track him and perhaps start freezing his accounts…

Raven's system of money storage wasn't any more sophisticated than his own -her share of the cash was stashed under the floorboards in her childhood room… Charles didn't know of course… if he found they were storing funds gained by illegal activities in his home he'd likely kick them all out..or throw the money on a bonfire… Azazel had found a crag impenetrable cliff face stuffed his portion of the haul into it…

Perhaps when Azazel returned they could investigate some offshore banking options in Asia or Africa…somewhere out of reach of Interpool or the KGB…apparently the options in the Seychelle's were supposed to be good…or at any rate better than their current solution.

Other than that, the search for Emma and the remaining Brotherhood members was going slowly. Azazel could only teleport so far each day, and long distances left him depleted. So instead of teleporting back to the mansion they were simply telephoning Erik whenever they had news - which wasn't often.

Erik's major challenge now was coping with boredom. He had never gone so long with such a long period of forced inactivity. He'd lived a nomadic life since his parents moved from Munich when he was nine, following the loss of his father's job from the civil service shortly after the Nazi's came to power. The family had stayed with his uncle in Nuremberg for a time, before all of them were finally forced to flee the country itself in the dead of night. Since then he'd been shuffling from pillar to post…some pillars had been vastly more luxurious than others. The only stationary period in his life had been the years he'd spent raising Anya in Vinnytsia along with Magda…and between study, work and parenthood he'd had little time for boredom…

Quite simply, he wasn't used to having so much time on his hands…if his full powers were back-or even if he was just back in full health- he would helping track down Emma and the others. Or seeking out other mutants to join the cause, but as it was if he left the mansion he'd just be a liability and end up passed out on a sidewalk somewhere. Not mention the fact that the CIA, KGB FIB, Arizona State Police and God knows who else were now hunting for him. In a last ditch attempt to find something to do he'd offered to help Beast with the Cerebro repairs and the rebuild of the Black Bird but received a curt "That's quite unnecessary" from the man (which coming from Hank was as good as "Go fuck yourself Lensherr"). The whole situation somewhat frustrated Erik, but he supposed he had now been indirectly responsible for breaking two of Hank's favourite toys…still he could be a great help on both projects if only Hank would allow him into the lab…

At least he and Charles were getting along better… they'd unanimously decided to avoid talking politics for awhile and were back to playing chess together most evenings.

With nothing else to do his focus had naturally turned -as it was want to these days- to Pietro. Despite himself Erik _was_ getting attached… He found Pietro an easy child to grow fond of. Or rather an easy child for _him_ to grow fond of. Pietro wasn't a model child by any imagining, **but** he was practical and loyal and caring. Erik was surprised at how often Pietro thought about his needs. He'd been keen to help Erik with any chores in the guest house when he'd seen how any activity easily tired Erik in the beginning. As a boy Erik had been always been a model student, but until Nuremberg he had been pampered and somewhat self centred. The only chore his mother had assigned him was making the bed and he'd even tried his best to get out of that. The fact that Pietro was _volunteering_ to do chores had impressed him.

Pietro was due soon for another reading lesson. The boy was not as natural with the written word as Anya had been, but he was progressing relatively well, and Erik was mostly enjoying teaching him. Though the boy's attention span definitely needed work..

"He would learn more quickly.." Erik mused to himself "..if he would only focus on something for more than ten minutes at a time…" He had an idea for today's lesson that would hopefully fix that problem. At least it was not a day that the boy would prefer to be playing outside-heavy freezing drops of rain had been hammering the roof of the guest house since the early hours of the morning. Erik placed some more logs on the fire

A few loud impatient knocks on the front door of the guest house announced Pietro's arrival.

"Come in" Erik called. It was curious that despite Pietro's extremely impulsive nature that he _did_ always knock. A few moments later his son clomped into the room, dripping wet.

Pietro of course hadn't thought to put on a coat. Erik frowned.

"I didn't do it!" Pietro blurted out as soon as he saw Erik's expression.

"Didn't do what?" Erik asked now confused.

"Whatever you're mad about, I didn't do it-I've been good all day - honest- you can ask Ms McTaggert….but maybe don't ask Dr McCoy because yesterday I borrowed the staple gun from his desk and Warren said that he'd be able to move his finger before I-"

"-Pietro go sit by the fire and stop incriminating yourself." Erik sighed, before quickly grabbing some towels from the bathroom and throwing one at Pietro, which landed over his head. "Here, dry yourself off before you catch a cold. Why didn't you wear a coat? "

"I don't need one…I hardly ever get sick" Pietro answered pulling the towel off his face. Erik took the other towel that he was holding and started rubbing Pietro's hair dry.

"If that's true you've been extremely lucky….you need to take better care of yourself. Sick soldiers aren't any good to a regiment" Erik chided. Why couldn't the boy remember to do simple things for his own health? What would Pietro be like when he left? Charles wouldn't be able to watch him all the time when Erik wasn't around, and Pietro was an accident magnet….what if he got really sick or injured? Erik shook the thought from his head. "Where** is** your coat?" he asked his son.

"In my closet…." Pietro said wrinkling his nose. Like everything else he owned, his coat was a hand me down. The moth eaten woollen thing was a relic from the Professor's boyhood and dated back to the 1940s. Pietro couldn't even imagine a younger version of the Professor liking the coat much…. Needless to say Pietro only wore it when he absolutely had to, and he wouldn't put it on unless his teeth were chattering and his fingers were going blue.

"Keeping your other clothes warm and dry? I want you to wear it next time you go outside in this kind of weather." Erik found one of his spare turtle necks and tossed that at his son too. "Put that on too."

Pietro brightened and pulled off his sodden t-shirt and quickly replacing it with Erik's turtleneck. He much preferred Erik's clothes to any that he owned even if it was miles too big.

* * *

><p><em>Hope you guys had a good festive season. Ok so here's the plan. It's gonna get <strong>real<strong> fluffy for a chapter or so… :P Then we're back to some heart wrenching, then Erik's soul searching again then - FINALE!_

_*Sparbuch was a simple anonymous savings account, available primarily in Austria it functioned similarly to numbered Swiss bank accounts._

_Silk Road - I like the idea of Azazel being older than he really appears and being around during the time of Tsars and Russian revolution…_


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